A Chicago Public Schools (CPS) policy allows illegal immigrant students excused absences if they or their family members are afraid of federal immigration enforcement activities in the area.

A document called Chicago Public Schools’ Attendance Coding for Safety Concerns Related to Federal Representative Activity, obtained by education watchdog Defending Education, affirms that illegal immigrant students can be marked as “excused” if a parent conveys to the school that they fear federal immigration authorities.

Immigration enforcement actions are dubbed “federal representative-related procedures” in the school’s policy, which was reaffirmed by the school board in February.

“If a parent/guardian reports an absence and attributes it to fear of federal representative-related procedure

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