{"id":160360,"date":"2026-02-02T15:22:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T15:22:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/160360\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T15:22:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T15:22:19","slug":"inside-a-minneapolis-school-where-50-of-students-are-too-afraid-of-ice-to-show-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/160360\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside a Minneapolis school where 50% of students are too afraid of ICE to show up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MINNEAPOLIS\u00a0\u2014\u00a0For weeks, administrators at this charter high school have arrived an hour before class, grabbed neon vests and walkie-talkies, and headed out into the cold to watch for ICE agents and escort students in.<\/p>\n

Lately, fewer than half of the 800 sudents show up. <\/p>\n

\u201cOperation Metro Surge,\u201d the immigration crackdown in Minnesota that led to nationwide protests<\/a> after federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens, has had students, parents and teachers on edge regardless of their immigration status. <\/p>\n

Signs of a fearful new normal are all over the school. Green craft paper covers the bottom of many first-floor windows so outsiders can\u2019t peer in. A notice taped outside one door says unauthorized entry is prohibited: \u201cThis includes all federal law enforcement personnel and activities unless authorized by lawful written direction from appropriate school officials or a valid court order.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Students <\/p>\n

Students at a Minneapolis high school classroom with many empty seats on Jan. 29, 2026.<\/p>\n

Staff coordinate throughout the day with a neighborhood watch group to determine whether ICE agents are nearby. When they are, classroom doors are locked and hallways emptied until staff announce \u201call clear.\u201d <\/p>\n

Similar tactics have been utilized by schools in other cities hit by immigration raids across the country. The Los Angeles Unified School District established a donation fund<\/a> for affected families and created security perimeters<\/a> around schools last summer. <\/p>\n

But it appears nowhere have students felt the repercussions of local raids more than in Minneapolis. <\/p>\n

Many schools have seen attendance plummet by double-digit percentages. At least three other, smaller charter schools in Minneapolis have completely shut down in-person learning. <\/p>\n

At this high school, which administrators asked The Times not to identify for fear of retaliation by the Trump administration, 84% of students are Latino and 12% are Black. Staff and students are being identified by first or middle names. <\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A balloon sits in a hallway at the high school. <\/p>\n

\"Doors <\/p>\n

Doors and windows are covered at the school so outsiders can\u2019t see in. <\/p>\n

Three students have been detained \u2014 and later released \u2014 in recent weeks. Two others were followed into the school parking lot and questioned about their immigration status. Several have parents who were deported or who self-deported. Latino staff said they have also been stopped and questioned about their legal status. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur families feel hunted,\u201d said Noelle, the school district\u2019s executive director. <\/p>\n

Students returned from winter break on Jan. 6, the same day 2,000 additional immigration agents were dispatched to Minneapolis to carry out what Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons called<\/a> the agency\u2019s \u201clargest immigration operation ever.\u201d The next day, an ICE officer fatally shot Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three. <\/p>\n

\u201cI describe that day as if you\u2019re on an airplane and it\u2019s really bad turbulence, and you have to keep your cool because, if you don\u2019t, you lose the entire building,\u201d said Emmanuel, an assistant principal. \u201cIt felt like we went through war.\u201d <\/p>\n

Attendance dropped by the hundreds as parents grew too afraid to let their children leave home. School leaders decided to offer online learning and scrambled to find enough laptops and mobile hotspots for the many students who didn\u2019t have devices or internet. Some teachers sent packets of schoolwork to students by mail.<\/p>\n

\"a <\/p>\n

A teacher at the Minneapolis high school that administrators asked The Times not to identify for fear of retaliation by the Trump administration. Teachers and students there also asked not to be identified. <\/p>\n

Noelle said in-person attendance, which had dropped below 400 students, increased by around 100 in the third week of January. Then federal agents shot and killed 37-year-old intensive care nurse Alex Pretti<\/a>, and attendance plummeted again.<\/p>\n

Rochelle Van Dijk, vice president of Great MN Schools, a nonprofit supporting schools that serve a majority of students of color, said many schools have redirected tens of thousands of dollars away from other critical needs toward online learning, food distribution and safety planning. For students still attending in person, recess has frequently been canceled, and field trips and after-school activities paused. <\/p>\n

Even if students return to school by mid-February, Van Dijk said, they will have missed 20% of their instructional days for the year. <\/p>\n

\u201cA senior who can\u2019t meet with their college counselor right now just missed support needed for major January college application deadlines. Or a second-grader with a speech delay who is supposed to be in an active in-person intervention may lose a critical window of brain plasticity,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is not dissimilar to what our nation\u2019s children faced during COVID, but entirely avoidable.\u201d <\/p>\n

At the high school, administrators said they tried to create \u201ca security bubble,\u201d operating under protocols more typical of active shooter emergencies.<\/p>\n

\"Students <\/p>\n

Gym class at the Minneapolis school, where many students are so afraid of ICE that they won\u2019t go to the campus. <\/p>\n

If agents were to enter the building without a judicial warrant, the school would go into a full lockdown, turning off lights, staying silent and moving out of sight. That hasn\u2019t happened, though ICE last year rescinded a policy that had barred arrests at so-called sensitive locations, including schools. <\/p>\n

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, said that blaming ICE for low school attendance is \u201ccreating a climate of fear and smearing law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cICE does not target schools,\u201d McLaughlin said. \u201cIf a dangerous or violent illegal criminal alien felon were to flee into a school, or a child sex offender is working as an employee, there may be a situation where an arrest is made to protect the safety of the student. But this has not happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alondra, a 16-year-old junior who was born in the U.S., was arrested after school Jan. 21 near a clinic where she had gone with a friend, also 16, to pick up medication for her grandmother. <\/p>\n

She said that as she was about to turn into the parking lot, another car sped in front of her, forcing her to stop. Alondra saw four men in ski masks with guns get out. Scared, she put her car in reverse. Before she could move, she said, another vehicle pulled up and struck her car from behind. <\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Alondra shared videos with The Times that she recorded from the scene. She said agents cracked her passenger window in an attempt to get in. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re with you!\u201d a bystander can be heard telling her in the video as others blow emergency whistles. <\/p>\n

She said she rolled her window down and an agent asked to see her ID. She gave him her license and U.S. passport. <\/p>\n

\u201cIs it necessary to have to talk to you or can I talk to an actual cop?\u201d she asks in the video. \u201cCan I talk to an actual cop from here?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are law enforcement,\u201d the agent replies. \u201cWhat are they gonna do?\u201d <\/p>\n

In another video, an agent questions Alondra\u2019s friend about the whereabouts of his parents. Another agent is heard saying Alondra had put her car in reverse. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re underage,\u201d she tells him. \u201cWe\u2019re scared.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"a <\/p>\n

A sign directs students to line up for their school bus route. Bus pickups are staggered, with one group of students escorted outside at a time. This way, the children can be taken back inside the school or onto the bus more easily if ICE arrives. <\/p>\n

A Minneapolis Public Radio reporter at the scene said agents appeared to have rear-ended Alondra\u2019s car. But Alondra said an agent claimed she had caused the accident. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a simple accident, you know what I mean?\u201d he says in the video. \u201cWe\u2019re not gonna get on you for trying to hit us or something.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cCan you let us go, please?\u201d her friend, visibly shaken, asks the agent at his window. <\/p>\n

Alondra and her friend were handcuffed and placed in a U.S. Customs and Border Protection vehicle as observers filmed the incident. At least two observers were arrested as agents deployed tear gas and pepper spray, according to an MPR report.<\/a> <\/p>\n

The agents took the students to the federal Whipple Building. Alondra said the agents separated the friends, looked through and photographed her belongings and had her change into blue canvas shoes before chaining her feet together and placing her in a holding cell alone. <\/p>\n

\u201cI asked at least five times if I could let my guardian know what was happening, because I was underage, but they never let me,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Finally, around 7 p.m., agents released Alondra \u2014 with no paperwork about the incident \u2014 and she called her aunt to pick her up. Her friend was released later.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, school administrators who saw the MPR video called Alondra\u2019s family and her friend\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Alondra said officers didn\u2019t know what had happened to her car and told her they would call her when she could pick it up. But no one has called, and school administrators who helped her make calls to Minneapolis impound lots haven\u2019t been able to locate it either. <\/p>\n

Though Alondra could attend classes online, she felt she had to return to campus. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like if I would have stayed home, it would have gone worse for me,\u201d she said, her lip quivering. \u201cI use school as a distraction.\u201d <\/p>\n

The backstage of the auditorium, dubbed the bodega, has been turned into a well-stocked pantry for families who are too afraid to leave their homes. <\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A volunteer organizes donated items for distribution to families at the Minneapolis high school. <\/p>\n

\"a <\/p>\n

A teacher makes a delivery to a family in Minneapolis. <\/p>\n

Teachers and volunteers sort donations by category, including hygiene goods, breakfast cereals, bread and tortillas, fruit and vegetables, diapers and other baby items. Bags are labeled with each student\u2019s name and address and filled with the items their family has requested. After school, teachers deliver the items to the students\u2019 homes. <\/p>\n

Noelle said some students, particularly those who are homeless, are now at risk of failing because they\u2019re in \u201csurvival mode.\u201d Their learning is stagnating, she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of these kids are \u2014 I mean, they want to be \u2014 college-bound,\u201d Noelle said. \u201cHow do you compete [for admission] with the best applicants if you\u2019re online right now and doing one touch-point a day with one teacher because that\u2019s all the technology that you have?\u201d <\/p>\n

On Thursday afternoon, 20 of 44 students had shown up for an AP world history class where the whiteboard prompt asked, \u201cWhy might some people resort to violent resistance rather than peaceful protest?\u201d <\/p>\n

Upstairs, in an 11th-grade U.S. history class, attendance was even worse \u2014 four students, with 17 others following online. The topic was what the teacher called the nation\u2019s \u201cfirst immigration ban,\u201d the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.<\/p>\n

\"students <\/p>\n

Students head to their bus at the high school. <\/p>\n

Morgan, the teacher, asked the students to name a similarity between the Chinese exclusion era and current day. <\/p>\n

\u201cImmigrants getting thrown out,\u201d one student offered. <\/p>\n

\u201cOnce they leave, they can\u2019t come back,\u201d said another. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that this is our first ban on immigration also sets a precedent that this stuff can happen over and over and over again,\u201d Morgan said. <\/p>\n

Sophie, who teachers English language learners, led the effort to organize the online school option. She is from Chile and says she has struggled to put her own fear aside to be present for the students who rely on her. Driving to school scares her, too. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s lawless,\u201d she said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter that I have my passport in my purse. The minute I open my mouth, they\u2019re going to know that I\u2019m not from here.\u201d <\/p>\n

Sophie said she once had to call a student\u2019s mother to say her husband had been taken by immigration agents after another school staffer found his car abandoned on a nearby street. <\/p>\n

\u201cHaving to have that conversation wasn\u2019t on my bingo card for that day, or any day,\u201d she said. \u201cHaving to say that we have proof that your husband was taken and hearing that woman crying and couldn\u2019t talk, and I\u2019m like, what do I say now?\u201d<\/p>\n

Close to the 4:15 p.m. dismissal, administrators again donned their neon vests and logged on to the neighborhood Signal call for possible immigration activity.<\/p>\n

\"Students <\/p>\n

Students walk to a bus Thursday. Dismissal used to be a free-for-all, with large numbers of students rushing outside as soon as the bell rang. <\/p>\n

Dismissal used to be a free-for-all \u2014 once the final bell rang, students would rush outside to find their bus or ride or to begin the walk home. <\/p>\n

Now pickups are staggered, with students escorted outside one bus at a time. Teachers grab numbered signs and tell students to line up according to their route. If ICE agents pull up, administrators said, they could rush a smaller group of students onto the bus or back inside. <\/p>\n

In yet another example of how the immigration raids had crippled attendance, some buses were nearly empty. On one bus, just two students hopped on. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MINNEAPOLIS\u00a0\u2014\u00a0For weeks, administrators at this charter high school have arrived an hour before class, grabbed neon vests and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160361,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[22772,78031,78030,5378,283,9977,1576,1073,2871,48,52,51,47,50,49,78032,7087,4265,4574,10384,5050],"class_list":["post-160360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-administrator","tag-affected-family","tag-alondra","tag-attendance","tag-car","tag-federal-agent","tag-friend","tag-home","tag-ice","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-minneapolis-school","tag-parent","tag-school","tag-student","tag-teacher","tag-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160360\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}