This letter by a school principal about ICE detaining her students is real [View all]

An image authentically shows a letter by a school principal in Sackets Harbor, New York, calling for the release of three students and their mother from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

Rating: True

About this rating

In early April 2025, a letter purportedly showing a school principal's appeal for the return of her students from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody spread widely online. Social media users posted the alleged letter on platforms like Bluesky, Facebook and X.

Link to tweet

The letter was allegedly written by Jaime Cook, principal of New York's Sackets Harbor Central School that teaches preschool through high school students. It described a situation where ICE officials detained three unnamed students from the same family, even though they allegedly followed "the legal [immigration] process." According to the letter, agents supposedly went "door to door" and "handcuffed" the students before putting them in a van with an "alleged criminal" and taking them to a detention center. Officials also detained their mother, according to the letter.

Per the letter, at least one of the students is a third grader. "We are in shock—and it is that shared shock that has unified our community in the call for our students' release," Cook allegedly wrote.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ice-students-school-principal/