Greater Minnesota schools felt the fear as ICE presence surged
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While the surge of federal agents in the Twin Cities grabbed much of the attention the past few months, stories of children hiding at home, crying in class and being detained have quietly gripped some Minnesota small towns since January.
In Willmar, more than 1,000 students stayed home from school as federal immigration agents flooded Minnesota in January and February. In St. Cloud, agents trailed high schoolers and detained a school staff member.
In Northfield and Goodhue County, educators say fear of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was easy to see in classrooms and across the community.
School leaders in those communities have seen it up close as they’ve worked to meet the needs of students and families who feared being detained, even those who are legal residents of the United States.
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That happened in Willmar, a town of 21,000 west of the Twin Cities. A teenager with legal residency was detained downtown then held in custody for several days before being returned home, said Bill Adams, superintendent of Willmar Public Schools.
Three days later, he said, agents stopped another student, a U.S. citizen, just outside a district learning center. After demanding extra verification of citizenship, agents allowed the student to go inside the school building.
“He arrived deeply frightened and lost vital instructional time,” Adams told state lawmakers in February.
The stops triggered a wave of anxiety throughout the entire community, according to Adams. When tensions were highest, more than 1 in 4 students were missing classes in Willmar Public Schools, one of the state’s most racially and ethnically diverse districts.
Adams began patrolling bus stops in his car, visiting student homes to check on children whose parents were detained and directing staff to get in touch with families in hiding.
“Parents explicitly cited fear as the primary driver (for keeping students at home) across all demographics,” Adams said. “Families of our Black and brown students feared profiling and family separation, even as legal residents. White families reported keeping children home due to anxieties about potential armed law enforcement activity inside our schools.”
About 150 miles southeast of Willmar in Goodhue County, a teacher told state lawmakers that some 30 percent of multilingual learners shifted to online learning in January because they were afraid to come to their school buildings. Those who did come to class in person showed visible signs of anxiety.
“In my classroom, students frequently become emotional, crying due to stress or fear. Many appear increasingly agitated and reluctant to engage in class activities,” a teacher wrote in a statement shared in testimony at a legislative hearing in February.
“Concentration has become difficult, and during quiet reading or independent work, students often become restless or distressed. Requests to use the bathroom during class have increased nearly fourfold since January, reflecting heightened anxiety,” the teacher said.
‘Tired, distracted and worried’
The presence of ICE agents has also been felt in some of the state’s smallest school districts. In St. James and Butterfield, two southern Minnesota towns where the majority of students are Latino, educators, students and families say the presence of agents has affected their daily lives.
“We live in fear of being beaten, assaulted, or abused. Since December 20th, we haven’t gone to the stores to buy food in person. I canceled two months of work cleaning houses,” one parent in St. James told state lawmakers in a written statement.
“My daughter has suffered from not being able to go out; no one came to her birthday party. Her friends were afraid to go out because they had heard stories of people being abducted,” the parent wrote. “We live in fear of being watched and having to be constantly on alert, even though we have legal documents to live and work here. I work at a school and I saw fear in many children, and I also arrived and left each day in fear.”
A teacher in the same district told lawmakers stress and fear were causing daily issues for students in their classroom. “They are tired, distracted and worried, watching friends disappear as families leave because they no longer feel safe in our community.”
St. James and Butterfield school leaders began working on how to support students and staff should large-scale deportations happen as the Trump administration neared power.
“We just continue to do a lot of work around supporting families, because at the end of the day, our big role is that we want to be able to educate kids and help create that safe learning environment for students,” said Liam Dawson, the St. James superintendent.
Dawson said the ICE presence in his town started rising in early January, just after the end of winter break.
“We’ve had a few days since the first of January that we've had nine or 10 vehicles around the community,” he said. “St James is fairly small, and so having 10 in town, it definitely increases the level of anxiety that some families are experiencing.”
Communication between the school system and local law enforcement has helped “operate school safely” and keep a consistent 95 percent attendance, he added.
It’s been a similar pattern in nearby Butterfield, where the presence of ICE agents rose in January but school attendance wasn’t hurt.
School staff have helped transport children to school and back home again when their parents were afraid to do so, but student attendance numbers didn’t fall, said Dan Blankenship, superintendent of the Butterfield-Odin school district.
“ICE has been here before, so it's nothing new,” he said, adding that he hasn’t heard of ICE detaining hardworking people in town.
‘Fear is still there’
All the school leaders in greater Minnesota who spoke to MPR News said that while ICE had been a visible presence in their communities in January and February, they believed it was easing following the announcement by federal officials that the surge of immigration agents was receding.
At the height of the tension in the St. Cloud Area School District, officials said a staff member was stopped by ICE on her way to work, students were followed by ICE while in a community organization vehicle, students’ families were detained, some students stayed home from school, ICE agents parked near district school buildings.
“There is uncertainty around immigration status for anybody that creates fear,’ said Laurie Putnam, the St. Cloud superintendent. “There have been impacts and and those caused families and individuals harm. It impacts school communities.”
The tensions, though, didn’t lead to the same high absenteeism found in Willmar or in Twin Cities area districts, she noted.
Putnam and Matt Hillmann, superintendent of Northfield schools, say their communities have come together to provide safety and support for families, from grocery deliveries to patrolling bus stops to keep children safe.
The current situation “does feel different” now, said Hillmann. His district saw attendance fall dramatically for one day in early January but return to normal the following week. While “it’s been incredibly unsettling, very stressful for so many of our families,” ICE hasn’t shown up near schools, he added.
Still, he said he worries “the lasting nature” of the trauma remains among Northfield students and families. “The absolute fact of the matter is that this is going to have a long term impact, especially on our immigrant friends and neighbors,” he added. “The fear is still there.”
