COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, Minn.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The little girl approached the therapy dog outside the school library, reaching out to touch her fluffy blond coat. Social worker Nicole Herje leaned in.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow does it feel when you pet Sage?\u201d Herje said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI like it,\u201d the girl said. \u201cIn Ecuador, I had a dog.\u201d<\/p>\n
A few months earlier, this girl and many of her classmates at Valley View Elementary were staying off the streets to avoid the immigration officers flooding their suburban Minneapolis community. Attendance plummeted as families kept their kids from school during the Trump administration\u2019s enforcement surge.<\/p>\n
Sage the goldendoodle is not just a cute diversion. She\u2019s part of a broader strategy to address the psychological wounds of children who witnessed arrests, lost relatives to deportation or endured anxious weeks indoors. At least four students at the school were detained and sent hundreds of miles away to a Texas family detention center. <\/p>\n
Federal immigration officers made more than 4,000 arrests and shot multiple people, two fatally, before Operation Metro Surge wound down in February, leaving an imprint on the psyches of young children that could haunt them for years, mental health providers say. <\/p>\n
Columbia Heights Public Schools, like many other districts, offered virtual learning for children who remained at home during the crackdown, but online schooling ended after spring break, and with many back in class, the staff has been focused on their recovery. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we know about trauma is that our bodies hold on to the fear,\u201d Herje said. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s why, in the middle of their virtual school day, Herje led kindergartners in a special class on emotions. They shared what made them happy and sad, calm and angry. They talked about missing their classmates and longing to return to school. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone want to raise your hand and tell us something that makes you feel happy?\u201d Herje asked. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I\u2019m happy, I want to go to school when I see my friends,\u201d said one girl.<\/p>\n
Herje followed up: What made them sad?<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen my grandma, she go [to] Ecuador,\u201d another girl said.<\/p>\n
All had lived through one of the most aggressive immigration crackdowns in history. There were the arrests of tearful and screaming immigrants, captured on video and played on endless loops across social media. In many cases, parents were taken away.<\/p>\n
A growing body of research is illuminating the effect of trauma on children, even those too young to understand. Prolonged exposure to a high-stress environment can reshape a baby\u2019s brain, explained Rebecca Parlakian, the senior director of programs at early childhood advocacy group Zero to Three.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen a child is experiencing sustained and consistent traumatic experiences where they have lost the sense of basic safety, we see that the brain reorganizes itself for survival, which actually translates to structural anatomical changes in the brain,\u201d Parlakian said. <\/p>\n
Trauma signs include lack of appetite, fear of sleeping alone<\/p>\n
The symptoms of trauma can vary widely depending on the child, their age and what they\u2019ve witnessed or experienced. Robyn Tabibi, a family physician in St. Paul who often works with expectant parents, said she treated a 3-year-old who had lost several relatives to deportation and had to move homes with his mother to avoid being targeted.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe gradually stopped eating, became listless, refused to play anymore,\u201d Tabibi said. \u201cHe\u2019s in this new space, and he is so traumatized.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fear that courses through immigrant families \u2014 even those here legally \u2014 could have profound consequences for a generation of American schoolchildren, experts say. <\/p>\n
The Brookings Institution estimates 4.6 million U.S. citizen children<\/a> live with a parent who is undocumented or has temporary legal status, and more than 200,000<\/a> have parents who were detained or deported during this Trump administration.<\/p>\n