‘Can I Miss Practice?’: Texas Mom Shares Heartbreaking Text From Her Terrified 12-Year-Old After a San Antonio Substitute Allegedly Threatened to Call ICE and Police on Him During Class

No parent sends their kid to school expecting a text message like this. But that is exactly what Amanda San Miguel received: a message from her 12-year-old son asking, “Can I miss practice?” — because, he said, a substitute teacher had just threatened to call ICE and the police on him during class. The boy lives with anxiety. His mother says he came home terrified and did not want to return to school. Now the substitute is under investigation and barred from the Sam Rayburn Middle School campus in San Antonio — and the incident has ignited a fierce debate about discipline, fear, and the things a teacher should never say to a child.

The incident allegedly took place at Sam Rayburn Middle School, which is part of the Northside Independent School District. The district has confirmed that an incident did occur but has declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation. The substitute teacher has not been publicly named, and no findings have been released. Everything about what was allegedly said in that classroom remains an allegation until the district completes its review.

According to San Miguel, her son alerted her with a text message reading, “Can I miss practice? Because a sub said he was going to call ICE and the police.” She added, “My son is really scared, and he has a lot of anxiety.” The boy himself told a local news reporter, “Teacher got angry. He was saying that I am going to call the police, that I am going to call immigration.” He also said he had wanted to ask the teacher how he could say such a thing, given that, in the boy’s words, “you’re Mexican.” According to the report cited in the viral video, more than 86 percent of the school’s students are Latino.

A Threat — or a Classroom Moment Blown Apart?

On one side of the debate, parents and community members are outraged at the idea of immigration enforcement being weaponized against a child as a disciplinary tool. Threatening to call ICE on a 12-year-old — especially one with an anxiety disorder, in a school where the overwhelming majority of students are Latino — strikes many as cruelty disguised as classroom management. For families already on edge about immigration enforcement in everyday life, the story hits a raw nerve: a child should never be afraid to walk back into his own school.

But there is another side to this, and it matters too. Right now, the entire case rests on one account: the boy’s and his mother’s. The substitute’s version of events has not been heard publicly, the classroom context is unknown, and districts routinely bar staff from campus during investigations as a precaution — not as a verdict. Anyone who has spent time in a middle school classroom knows how quickly a heated moment, a misunderstood remark, or a badly worded warning can spiral. An investigation is not a conviction, and rushing to label the unnamed substitute before the facts are in risks its own kind of injustice.

What Happens Next

The district’s review is ongoing, and no timeline for its findings has been announced. The substitute remains off campus while it plays out. Whether the result is discipline, exoneration, or something in between, the case has already forced an uncomfortable question into the open: when, if ever, is it acceptable for an educator to invoke police or immigration authorities against a student — and what does it do to a child when that line gets crossed, even in anger?

Watch the original viral report below:

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So where do you land? Was this a teacher crossing an unforgivable line — or a one-sided story that deserves its day in the district’s investigation before anyone passes judgment? The comment section is yours.