Educators speak out in D.C., St. Paul about impact of ICE presence on students, families, communities
Throughout the winter, educators across Minnesota have felt the impact of Operation Metro Surge as the Department of Homeland Security sent upwards of 3,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents to Minnesota, allegedly to detain individuals who were in the country illegally and had committed dangerous crimes. However, ICE and CPB agents targeted a much wider demographic, detaining natural-born citizens, immigrants in good legal standing, and constitutional legal observers alike. Because the Trump administration rolled back the longstanding “sensitive locations” policy in 2025, these agents were able to target schools, hospitals, churches, daycare centers and more.
As a result, attendance in many school districts plummeted. Districts and schools scrambled to create protocols in the event that ICE agents showed up at their schools. And many educators went above and beyond to ensure their students were safe. Over the course of a couple of weeks in February, educators also shared these stories with elected officials, urging them to pass legislation to keep our students and communities safe.
On Feb. 12, more than 60 Minnesotans took to Capitol Hill to demand that lawmakers take action to get ICE out of Minnesota, vote no on any additional funding for ICE or CBP, and pursue real accountability for the terror that ICE had inflicted on Minnesotans over the past several weeks. Three local teachers—Mandi Jung and Quentin Wathum-Ocama of St. Paul, and Peg Nelson of Columbia Heights—joined Education Minnesota officers Monica Byron, Marty Fridgen and Ryan Fiereck to advocate for protecting our schools and students from continued ICE operations. As part of this day of action, the group held a national press conference on Capitol Hill, which was attended by over 100 supporters and members of the press.
Following the press conference, this delegation spent the day visiting and sharing their stories with national leaders, including Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith, Bernie Sanders and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Nelson, one of the speakers featured at the press conference, shared harrowing stories from educators in the Columbia Heights district. “Many families are afraid to send their children to school. One day last month, 200 of our 570 students were absent from our school. On average, we have 130 students absent each day because they are afraid to come to school,” she said. “As educators, for the sake of our children, we need ICE to stay away from our schools and out of Minnesota. If they do truly leave Minnesota, no child in America should go through what Columbia Heights and other schools in Minnesota had to endure. ICE needs to stay away from schools everywhere.”
The next week, when the Minnesota Legislature gaveled in for the 2026 session, dozens of educators from across the state testified to both legislative chambers about the impacts of ICE presence. On Wednesday, Feb. 18, the Senate Education Finance Committee held a hearing for a “status report on Minnesota schools,” where six Education Minnesota members shared stories about how their classrooms have changed due to Operation Metro Surge. Jung, a teacher in St. Paul, shared a story of a student who was detained by ICE: “Benito and his cousin were walking home from the store in early December when they were stopped by masked men and put in a vehicle. The men asked for their papers; Benito, being 12, did not have any papers. He gave them his school ID—a meaningless piece of laminated paper with his smiling face and family name. They let him go. They kept his school ID”
On Thursday, Feb. 19, the House Education Finance Committee held a hearing specifically on the impact of Operation Metro Surge on schools. 2024 Minnesota Teacher of the Year Tracy Byrd shared stories from several of his students, who expressed fear and dismay over how much the occupation has impacted their learning. One student, identified only by their initials, told Byrd that “school should be a safe place, not somewhere you have to fear being taken away from your family.”
On Wednesday, Feb. 25, the Senate Education Policy Committee heard two bills regarding immigration enforcement in schools. The first, S.F. 3611, would prohibit federal immigration enforcement from entering a school site without a judicial warrant. The second, S.F. 3803, would prevent the state from denying public education to children based on immigration status. Both of these bills aim to restore previously held federal policies.
Columbia Heights social studies teacher Kristen Sinicariello spoke about the changes in her school since the federal occupation began. “Any time there is ICE presence near our school, it causes a direct disruption to learning and safety…In January, an ICE SUV pulled into the loading dock of my school. My students huddled around, watching from windows as administrators spoke with the agents. Eventually they left, but by that time the videos had been posted online, [leaving] students scared and confused.” She shared stories of ICE agents pulling students over and staking out bus stops and busy thoroughfares so that students had to walk past the agents to get home. As this goes to print, both of those bills are working their way through the Legislature. We will continue to provide updates on these and other education-related proposals. The most up-to-date information will be available in our Capitol Connection newsletter, which goes out to all members once a week while the Legislature is in session.
