An elementary student walking to the bus stop alone, their parents watching from their window.
A middle schooler whose parents weren’t home when she got back from school because they had been taken by immigration officials.
A high school student detained at a bus stop, then held for five days with minimal contact.
The fear of harassment or detention by federal immigration agents has driven a spike in school absences and a shift to online learning in communities across the state, according to parents, teachers and superintendents who spoke Wednesday at a legislative hearing — the first of several as state lawmakers begins to consider policy responses to Operation Metro Surge.
“We are watching a generation of St. Paul children, and children across this entire country, lose their childhoods to a fear that no child should know,” said Amy Hewett-Olatunde, an English as a second language teacher with St. Paul Public Schools, where nearly 7,000 students did not come to school at the height of federal operation.
Hewett-Olatunde was among 22 people who spoke at the Senate Education Finance Committee meeting. Some speakers stressed they were simply sharing facts about the impacts and not attempting to make political statements. Others called on lawmakers to respond with additional funding for schools and other actions.
Republican committee members were critical that the hearing didn’t include the perspective of people who support law enforcement and are critical of illegal immigration.
Comprehensive, statewide numbers for absences and remote learning are not yet available. But several school officials from around the state shared anecdotal numbers on Wednesday about local impacts.
Bill Adams, superintendent of Willmar Public Schools, said a student spent several days at the Bishop Henry Whipple Building in detention last month even though she’s a legal resident.
He said about a quarter of Willmar students were absent in the week that followed — or 936 average daily absences in a district of around 4,000 students. Adams has personally conducted home visits to make sure an adult is present in the home after parents have been detained.
The Minnesota Association of Charter Schools reports some schools have seen attendance drops of 40% or more. Partnership Academy in Richfield, which primarily serves Latino students, saw an all-time low in attendance of 39% the Monday after Renee Good’s killing, said its executive director MJ Johnson. While learning virtually, students watched on Zoom as ICE arrived at the homes of classmates and staff members, she said.
In the Columbia Heights Public School District, around 800 of 3,400 students have switched to learning online. The numbers are similar in Fridley Public Schools, with over 400 of about 2,700 students enrolled in online learning.
Columbia Heights Superintendent Zena Stenvik said the district’s overall enrollment has dropped by 130 students compared with this time last year, which she attributes to the immigration surge. It will cost nearly $2 million in lost funding.
The district has also seen dozens of parents and seven students detained, she said. Six students were flown to a detention center in Texas within hours, and an eleventh and fifth grade students each spent over a month in detention, she said.
“They’re not violent criminals. They’re mothers, fathers, children, neighbors,” she said of those being detained.
Fridley Superintendent Brenda Lewis said her job is not to interfere with immigration enforcement or talk about immigration policy or reform. But it is about student safety and learning.
One day three weeks ago, Lewis said six ICE vehicles circled a roundabout in front of Hayes Elementary School, preventing kids from crossing the road to get to the building. Agents also represented themselves as media and followed a school board member from home as she took her 3-year-old to day care, she said.
“I wish that I could tell you that this is an exaggerated situation,” Lewis said.
At the Twin Cities Academy charter school, social workers have visited homes of 25 students to help adults fill out Delegation of Parental Authority paperwork, said Executive Director Betsy Lueth. Parents only opened the door to those social workers when they recognized a familiar face, Leuth said. Then, those parents sobbed, asking who would take custody of their kids if they were detained despite being legal refugees.
Teacher and parent Sarah Lindsey who said she’s part of a school network that has provided rides to school for 70 kids, delivered weekly groceries for 185 families, and paid rent for 117 families. She shared the story of a family in south Minneapolis that hasn’t left the house in eight weeks, and whose four children whisper as they learn online with the curtains closed.
“Parents and caregivers have stepped up to lead in this moment. And now it is time for you, as legislators, to step up, to lead, and to support our impacted communities,” she said.
No signs of bipartisan support
Two days into the session, DFL lawmakers have already proposed bills that seek to hold federal agents accountable for illegal conduct and prevent immigration enforcement in areas like schools and day cares, among other things.
Those are just proposals, however, and they have received little if any bipartisan support.
Sen. Eric Lucero, R-Saint Michael, criticized the characterization of law enforcement agents as invaders and terrorists, among other things. He said they should be recognized for risking their lives to uphold immigration laws.
Missing from the hearing, Lucero said, are perspectives from people who are being denied opportunities and resources taken by people who entered the country illegally.
“Those are the voices that are across the state, that were deliberately silenced and ignored in this committee this morning,” he said.
Sen. Clare Oumou Verbeten, DFL-St. Paul, said attacks on Minnesota’s youngest residents are cruel.
“I want to thank everyone for coming to testify today and sharing your stories and speaking the truth. And if that makes us uncomfortable, we need to sit with that. Period,” she said.
“It’s clear that the response is going to be to just continue to scapegoat immigrants and people of color,” she added
Sen. Jason Rarick, R-Pine City, said he does not deny the lived experiences shared during the hearing. He also said he won’t deny, or defend actions in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
But he also said the conversation should include a discussion of “civility,” criticizing a lack of cooperation with law enforcement and calls to use whistles and other tactics to challenge immigration agents.
“We have to lower the tensions on both sides if this is going to be solved, and if we’re going to remove the fear that we’ve heard about,” Rarick said.
The House Education Finance Committee will meet at 1 p.m. Thursday to again discuss the impact of Operation Metro Surge on school communities.
About the author
Cleo Krejci is a state government reporter for MinnPost. She worked as a reporter in Arizona, Iowa and Wisconsin before returning to her hometown of Minneapolis in fall 2025.
