On a bitterly cold Friday afternoon in Minneapolis, Peter Brown, an 81-year-old retired attorney, stood vigil outside Green Central Elementary School. His gray mustache and beard were frosted with ice as he wore a neon green safety vest and carried a whistle and walkie-talkie. Brown carefully observed every vehicle and pedestrian near the school, prepared to alert the community if federal immigration agents approached. The elementary school, which offers education in both English and Spanish, is located just around the corner from the site where a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent recently fatally shot Renee Good.
Brown expressed his firm opposition to what he views as heavy-handed federal tactics, stating, "I never did like bullies, and that’s what the federal government has become." Despite freezing temperatures that dipped to minus 2 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill of minus 19 Celsius, Brown dedicated four hours to protecting his community. He characterized recent federal actions in Minneapolis as "authoritarian intimidation," clarifying, "Me and my neighbors are not going to put up with it."
The Trump administration has intensified immigration enforcement by deploying approximately 3,000 federal agents throughout the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area as part of a broader mass deportation effort. This escalation has shifted local dynamics, with parents substituting traditional school event organization for security patrols aimed at safeguarding schools from ICE activities.
Beyond these patrols, some parents are escorting foreign-born teachers and staff to and from school to improve their sense of safety. Additionally, members of the community are providing essential deliveries of food and medication to immigrant families reluctant to leave their homes or send children to school amid the enforcement operations.
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, highlighted her meetings with school principals across the state. She reported receiving distressing accounts of children and parents feeling "under siege" by ICE. On social media, she described the situation as involving frightened young children and serious confrontations, indicating the issue extended beyond mere fraud investigations. Klobuchar called for the community to maintain peaceful responses to these challenges.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for overseeing ICE and the Border Patrol, announced that over 2,500 individuals have been arrested during these operations, termed Operation Metro Surge. DHS emphasized that their focus remains on individuals with criminal convictions rather than targeting schools directly.
Nevertheless, parents and school officials describe a contrasting reality. Saint Paul Public Schools, through a spokesperson, confirmed that ICE agents stopped two contracted student transportation vans recently. There have also been multiple notifications sent to parents alerting them of teachers and staff who have been detained. Multiple schools and daycare centers have been involved in these communications, according to reports from both families and school leaders. Efforts to obtain detailed comment from DHS on these specific incidents were unsuccessful.
There is growing concern as some parents have reportedly been detained at school bus stops after dropping off their children. After classes wrapped up one day, Border Patrol agents clashed with demonstrators at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis. DHS stated that this confrontation resulted from agents pursuing an individual who had previously rammed one of their vehicles miles away before fleeing onto school grounds.
In response to the ongoing immigration enforcement, several school districts in Minneapolis and St. Paul, the two largest cities in Minnesota, have intermittently suspended in-person classes. Instead, affected students have been permitted to continue their studies via remote learning. The measure is intended to reduce students and families' exposure to immigration raids during this period.
State Representative Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn, a Democrat and co-chair of the Children and Families Finance and Policy Committee in Minnesota’s House of Representatives, revealed that many families fear sending their children to school given the presence of ICE agents near bus stops. Nate Byrne, representing Kids Count on Us - a coalition of approximately 500 community-based childcare centers across Minnesota - noted frequent reports of ICE officers observed near or on childcare premises. In neighborhoods with significant immigrant populations, enrollment at these centers has declined by about 50%. Byrne also indicated instances of childcare workers being taken into ICE custody, though specific numbers were not available.
Parents in the community are responding in various ways. Those less likely to face detention, often due to racial demographics, have organized patrol teams to monitor childcare centers during drop-off and pick-up times to protect staff and children. Conversely, families at greater risk of ICE detainment tend to exercise heightened caution in daily routines.
One St. Paul parent, known only as Kelly due to concerns about potential government retaliation, described her involvement in delivering food to immigrant families whose fear of ICE has prevented them from leaving their homes. Additionally, collective fundraising efforts are underway to assist these families financially, as many miss work due to the heightened enforcement environment.
Kelly, who participated in a Friday night protest against ICE with her husband and two young children, reflected on the dramatic changes in her community. Previously active in organizing Parent-Teacher Association activities, she now carries a whistle and is prepared to confront federal agents if they approach her children’s school. She lamented the absence of guidance for parents navigating these unprecedented challenges, stating, "There’s no parenting handbook for this. My parents never had to sit me down and explain that my classmates who are suddenly missing from school aren’t there because their parents are afraid of being snatched by the government."