Fear and school disruptions surge in Minneapolis-St. Paul as ICE activity escalates in the region.

  • “My daughter’s school in Richfield, MN is closing tomorrow due to out-of-control federal agents. Fourth graders spent the week building walls of snow at recess to protect their classmates from ICE. This isn’t about immigration enforcement, it’s about terror.” —Parent in Minnesota
  • “33% of students are missing from class. 8-year-olds are sharing with classmates that ICE is stealing children, and Hmong teachers are having flashbacks to the camps and jungle escapes. This is what’s happening in schools across the Twin Cities and western Wisconsin today.” —ESL Teacher in Minnesota
  • “As a retired teacher who has seen schools closed for snow, ice, historic floods, extreme winds (gusting over 100 mph), and wildfires. As a student school was closed due to vandalism of the buses. I never could foresee schools closed to protect students from our own government.” —Retired Teacher in the United States
  • “I’m a teacher and we’ve actually had to have conversations about how to respond if an ICE agent approaches us. Administrators and teachers are well prepared!” —Teacher in the United States
  • “Hey teachers: Speaking truth to power in your classroom, especially in places that want silence and compliance, is activism. Telling the truth in a room full of students is THE WORK. Refusing to back down and refusing to lie in your curricular decisions is protest. And If you tell kids the truth and make space for their truths, that’s enough. Rest. We need you.” —High School English Teacher in Texas
  • “Students have shared with us that they have family members who are detained. Students have told us that they witnessed abductions by ICE in their neighborhood. They have been boxed in by ICE in their cars at gas stations. They are carrying their passports with them and telling ICE they are citizens (and often minors) and are being harassed, intimidated, and followed. Many are being questioned about their families. On Friday, 1,100-plus students were absent from our roughly 2,000 student population.” —Secondary Special Education Teacher in Minnesota
  • “… Last week, at a community-building circle among staff, our principal asked if staff could stand protective watch at school bus stops to ensure students could safely travel to school and head to their respective homes and families. There is nothing quite like this moment.” —Elementary School Teacher in Minnesota