Lately Amy Dudgeon has been hearing from immigrant families in Louisiana who say they’re scared to leave their homes. Many have young children who worry their parents will be gone when they get home from school.

Dudgeon is president of the New Neighbor Project, a group she founded during the pandemic when she saw a need for accessible English classes for immigrant families in the greater New Orleans area. The group offers online and in-person English and citizenship classes and works with immigrants to apply for scholarships that can create a pathway to citizenship.

But starting in January, Dudgeon said she began to see a decrease in the number of Spanish-speaking students attending the group’s classes. She blames a growing climate of fear stemming from the Trump administration’s aggress

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