Absences and loss of innocence: ICE raids leave behind a heavy weight in Minnesota schools

By Chelsea Bailey, CNN

(CNN) — School drop-offs and pick-ups across Minneapolis look a lot different since Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents came to town.

Kate Lundquist, a mom of six and a local teacher, told CNN, these days – as she hustles her children out the door – she finds herself checking to make sure her two adopted sons have their citizenship documents.

As the mother of a Black teenager – who lives mere miles from where George Floyd was murdered – Lundquist said her blended family has already had tough conversations around how to interact with local police officers.

But, she added, it’s an entirely different thing when federal immigration agents are stopping people and questioning their right to even be in the country.

“There was one day specifically where it was known that agents were pulling over people at random in my neighborhood – just blocks from my home,” she said. “Knowing my son was going to be driving home from high school … how do I prepare my kids for that potential danger?”

A sense of fear hangs like fog over this diverse, close-knit city. In the weeks since the Department of Homeland Security launched Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis and the surrounding areas, much of the nation’s focus has centered on federal immigration agents’ hardline and at times fatal tactics.

But parents and teachers in the Minnesota communities most impacted by the surge tell CNN the ripple effects of the operation have spread well beyond the streets and into their classrooms.

And it’s robbing students not only of their opportunity to learn, but also of their innocence.

“Our kids hear the whistles, and they hear the car horns, and they know that means that there’s a bad person nearby,” said Elizabeth, a south Minneapolis mom who asked to be identified only by her first name.

“My child hasn’t had recess since December – it’s not safe for them to be outside,” she added, “(Federal agents) dropped tear gas a block-and-a-half away from a school last week during dismissal.”

“I wish that people on both sides of the aisle could look at these kids and see that something needs to change.”

Why don’t my friends feel safe?

Breonna Robinson’s third grade classroom has grown gradually quieter in recent weeks.

Robinson teaches in the Columbia Heights School District – the same district where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father were detained by ICE last month.

Although the preschooler and his father were released from detention this weekend, many families in their community remain fearful the same thing could happen to them, as long as the operation continues.

The district said, in addition to Liam, five other students have been detained in recent weeks and classes were canceled Monday while local police investigated bomb threats sent to schools in the district.

In December, Robinson said she began noticing a few of her students – who were normally engaged and excited to learn – had begun to withdraw.

Her classroom is like an ecosystem, she said, where “everybody’s personality matters; everybody has something to contribute.”

As federal agents ramped up activity across Minneapolis, Robinson said some of her students began describing how terrified their parents were. And after the holidays, she added, many of those same students didn’t return to class.

Then, the fatal shootings began – first Renée Good; then Alex Pretti.

Now, Robinson said, many undocumented parents at the school – and indeed across Minneapolis – are too afraid to leave their homes for a simple grocery run, let alone to take their children to school. In response, some school districts have scrambled to offer online classes.

“When I log in to take attendance, it shows who is dropping off my roster because they’re going (to school) online and it’s like 20% of my class that I’m losing,” she said.

And their absence has been felt most of all by their classmates, who Robinson said now pepper her with questions like, “What are ICE agents? What’s their job? What isn’t their job? And why don’t my friends feel safe coming to school anymore?”

“Initially, I tried to kind of sweeten how I was talking about the situation, but I have found I can’t really do that anymore,” Robinson said because most of her students are exposed to the news and their parents’ conversations.

“So, I’m having really difficult, candid conversations with eight and nine-year-olds.”

Admittedly, Robinson said, this is not how she imagined her second year of teaching.

Raids leave a ‘palpable’ weight

Last month, the state of Minnesota sued multiple Trump administration officials over the surge in immigration enforcement agents. The lawsuit claimed the increase in federal agents is a violation of the 10th Amendment – and of Minnesota’s state sovereignty – and zeroed in on the impact the immigration enforcement has had on the state’s core governmental functions, including public schools.

Over the weekend, a federal judge denied a request to temporarily halt the operation that has seen thousands of agents dispatched to the state. But the impact of the raids has spread beyond the Twin Cities.

In Rochester, Minnesota’s third largest city, school Superintendent Kent Pekel told CNN more than 500 students were absent in his district in January compared to the previous month.

Pekel said his district has a large Somali population and when you drill down into demographics, the absences have skyrocketed especially among students whose first language is not English and those of Latino descent.

“I think for all students and staff, there’s just a gigantic psychological weight that is really palpable,” he said. “I’ve had teachers email me and just say, ‘I don’t know how I can teach right now.’”

But they keep showing up, he added, because they care deeply about their students and their families.

Pekel said he’s worked in education for decades and while illegal immigration has always been a divisive issue, there used to be a tacit agreement that students should not be caught in the crosshairs.

“The one point of agreement among most people was: We got to educate the kids,” he said. “That has broken down in such a profound way.”

Education Minnesota, a leading advocate for public education in the state, has called for ICE to stay away from local schools and argued their actions put “students and educators at serious risk.”

“This disruption comes on top of the ongoing fear and emotional harm students experience when ICE operates in their communities,” said Monica Byron, president of the organization.

As both a teacher and a parent, Lundquist said the ICE arrests have changed the way she feels about greeting her students each morning.

“When I say, ‘I am happy to see you. I’m so glad you’re here,’ I mean that with the depths of my soul,” she said.

“When those babies are in our building, that is a win for the day because they’re in a safe place with us – they got to school and they didn’t have to hide.”

‘Children don’t deserve this’

Like many kids across Minneapolis, Elizabeth said her child’s young life has been punctuated by tragedies that have marred the landscape of their hometown.

George Floyd was murdered blocks away from their daycare. Not to mention the assassination of Minnessota State Rep. Melissa Hortman, or the shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church last summer. And now, Pretti and Good have both been killed a few miles away from their home.

The compounding tragedies, Elizabeth said, have forced her family to have tough conversations about life, death and how people in uniform do not always treat Black and Brown families the same way.

But in the wake of each tragic event, nearly everyone who spoke to CNN said they’ve also seen a groundswell of community support.

After school, Robinson said the lunchroom transforms into a food pantry as teachers and staff work to pack canned goods, produce and other food for students whose parents haven’t felt safe enough to leave their homes.

Teachers, she said, have been delivering the food in their personal time.

“I think just the spirit of Minnesota is to step up when people need you to step up,” Robinson said.

Elizabeth has joined a network of local parents who observe school pick-ups and drop-offs and help carpool students safely home.

As the kids pile into the car and sing along to “KPop Demon Hunters” in the back seat, Elizabeth told CNN she often finds herself stealing furtive glances in her rearview mirror and wondering: Are there agents in that car? Does that SUV have out-of-state tags? Are we being followed?

She admits it’s the kind of vigilance you’d expect to see dramatized in a high-stakes thriller; but she said it’s unfortunately become the norm.

“I just have to be mindful that I have precious cargo in my car and make sure nobody’s following us,” she said. “It makes me want to protect my community more, which is why we need ICE out of our schools.”

“Children don’t deserve this.”

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