National Education Association webinar on ‘Preparing for a Second Trump Administration’ focuses on thwarting ‘attacks’ by ‘extremists’ and how to protect ‘undocumented’ children and families from immigration enforcement; includes land acknowledgement and claims about a “Muslim African Ban”

As part of the National Education Association’s (NEA) webinar series titled “Preparing for a Second Trump Administration,” the final presentation (January 17, 2025) focused on racial and social justice narratives to thwart “attacks” by “extremists” and how to protect “undocumented” children and families from government immigration enforcement.

NEA president Becky Pringle opened the webinar by stating that the NEA will “continue its critical work of not just building a movement with our members, but with the entire nation to reclaim public education as a common good, as a foundation of this or any democracy.” She continues: “you understand that we cannot stop there, that we actually have to transform it into something it was not designed to be, a racially and socially just and equitable system that prepares every student, native and newcomer.”

Pringle also states that it is their “professional” and “moral obligation” to keep “our students safe” when “ICE comes into our schools or into our communities” by “making sure that you know your rights, you know how to protect your students, and that you know that this is that time.”

After the opening comments from the NEA president, the webinar continues with a land acknowledgement which includes the statement that “through hundreds of years of displacement, erasure, and colonization, the resilience of our nation’s first peoples persists, and their cultural and historical presence today is invaluable and irreplaceable in the fabric of our society.”

Guest speakers for the webinar include an NEA senior director for the Center of Racial and Social Justice and a staff council member from the NEA Office of General Council.

The senior director for the Center of Racial and Social Justice opens by stating that her “head is spinning” because of the “number of attacks that we see currently and that we see coming on our black, brown, LGBTQ students, ourselves, our communities, and our immigrant communities.” She also states that these [“attacks”] are existential threats to our fundamental freedoms and to our liberty, attacks on our liberty to pursue our dreams.”

The senior director continues by sharing these “attacks” are “not isolated ” but are “coordinated.” She states that “we know who the actors are and we know what their motives are” which point to a “common motivation to erode trust, to reduce funding, reduce participation, consolidate power, and sow division.”

She continues: “the extremists use immigration as the way to separate us” and they “energize their base, they keep them enraged and engaged so that they are able to hold on to whatever it is that they want to do.” They “start provoking fear, they’re eroding trust in our system and our immigration system” and they “start reducing the funding appropriated for having a solid and stable, in this case, immigration system.”

The senior director also states that the “side that is pro-immigrant, pro-democracy hasn’t been as consistent about beating the drum with a counter narrative.” She then presents a slide titled “Race Class Gender Narrative Key Elements” stating that “whenever we talk about our issues, we lead with our values.” She also explains that “we’re very deliberate about naming race and class,” then “name who is scapegoating us, who the villains are, and why they’re using the as a weapon to harm us all.”

A sample counter narrative was provided to the attendees.

The senior director then goes after “billionaires” by stating that they “want to expand their power and they are doing that at the expense or our children.” She remarks that “Elon Musk funds went up 25% once Trump won” and “how did he win? By villainizing and othering our populations, our migrant populations, our populations of color.”

The next speaker in the webinar is from the NEA’s Office of General Counsel and states that the information she is going to present is “not legal counsel or advice,” but is “just general information.” She also claims that “there’s been a lot of chatter and information in the news from the incoming administration from folks affiliated with Project 2025” including “reinstating the Muslim African ban.”

The staff member also states that they anticipate the rescinding of “‘sensitive zones’ memos which protect schools from immigration enforcement.” She goes on to state how they can prepare for potential deportations such as pushing school districts to adopt “safe zones resolutions that NEA has drafted” and engage in “education of immigrant communities in your area.”

She then speaks about Plyer v. Doe and how it protects “undocumented children’s” right to a free Public K-12 education. She follows this by adding that “schools should also not inquire about students or their parents’ immigration status because that can have a chilling effect, which would also violate Plyer.” Next, she claims that “Project 2025 has been very clear and open about their desire to overturn Plyer versus Doe.”

As part of the webinar, the staff member states that “ICE cannot just come to school and look through student records, because, you know, they would need a subpoena to do so unless its directory information.” She then suggests that “when it comes to the directory information and this information that schools are collecting, it’s important that the school district is not including place of birth information in their directory information and that they are informing families that they have the ability to opt out of directory information disclosure.”

She continues: “So if families would prefer not to have that information listed, because again, that is information that the school can turn over without informing families that they’re turning that information over.”