Minnesota leaders push for BCA to be included in FBI’s investigation on ICE killing, protests continue
Minneapolis Public Schools leaders said Friday morning that the district will offer families remote learning as part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the city.
District officials and families spoke at a news conference around 10 a.m. at Hiawatha Park. Many of them spoke of the intimidation and fear they have felt since ICE agents arrived in schools. Others talked about organizing rides for children of immigrant families because parents are afraid to leave home, and about the presence of ICE at Roosevelt High School where they say a teacher was accosted by federal agents.
“We saw ICE agents in Roseville surround the school compound waiting for families to pick up their children,” said Monica Byron, president of Education Minnesota. “Every moment ICE remains near our schools puts children, educators and families at risk.”
Friday morning in St. Paul, members of Education Minnesota explained how ICE activity near schools has sparked anxiety and fear.
“Grown men are using pepper spray on terrified high school students on school grounds,” said Catina Taylor of the Minneapolis Federation of Educators.
Chris Erickson said ICE’s presence has been felt beyond the Twin Cities. He says it’s changed the way St. Cloud teachers approach each day.
“The fear when they load their students onto the bus at the end of the day, not knowing if that child will return to their family or to an empty house,” said Erickson, president of the St. Cloud Education Association.
Miles from St. Paul, Minneapolis parents and teachers gathered at Hiawatha Park with a similar message.
They chanted and held signs and demanded accountability for the shooting of Renee Good. Members of the Minneapolis teachers union also spoke out Wednesday about ICE activity at Roosevelt High School, in which federal agents entered the school grounds while attempting to make an arrest.
“While on school grounds, they deployed chemical irritants and arrested an educator and MFE member who was doing their job at the time of their termination,” said Natasha Dockter of the Minneapolis Federation of Educators.
Clara, who has children in Minneapolis schools, said her daughter observed federal agents outside her elementary school classroom.
“During this time, numerous officers and vehicles surrounded the school perimeter,” Clara said.
Minneapolis educators have talked about organizing care and protection networks to allow students from immigrant families to drive to school and deliver groceries to those too afraid to leave their homes.
“Let me be very clear. Immigration checks should never, under any circumstances, take place on school grounds,” Dockter said.
A DHS statement on this incident at Roosevelt High said officers used targeted crowd control for the safety of law enforcement and the public. They also said no tear gas was deployed, which contradicts testimony.
