Disruptions at schools and on the streets
ICE detained a parent at a school bus stop this month in Robbinsdale, a Minneapolis suburb, Robbinsdale Area Schools Superintendent Teri Staloch said in a statement. On the day Good was killed, U.S. Border Patrol agents clashed with teachers and protesters at nearby Roosevelt High School, leading to the arrest of at least one educator, according to the teachers union. And at least four children were apprehended by ICE in recent weeks, two of them while they were on their way to school, according to the district.
It is unclear whether the children have been released, as Staloch declined to share their names. DHS has said that it does not target children and that “ICE is not going to schools to make arrests of children.”
Some families have stopped sending their kids to school as a result.
The Minneapolis Public School District and Saint Paul Public Schools, which collectively serve more than 60,000 students, started offering students online classes as alternatives to in-person learning.
Leah Hood teaches Spanish-speaking adults English at a public school in a Minneapolis suburb, which she asked NBC News not to name because of her students’ safety concerns.
Before the crackdown, her classes had attendances of roughly 30 to 35 students. But in recent weeks, just a handful of students have shown up for class, she said.
When ICE vehicles were visible from school property last week, classes got canceled, she said. On Monday, classes were moved fully online.
“‘Disgusted’ doesn’t even come close to covering it, but I am absolutely sickened, appalled, horrified,” Hood said. “This administration is evil.”
Protests have become routine in the city and are mostly peaceful.
And wherever there are protests, there are more volunteers. Throughout the rallies are people passing out hand warmers, water bottles and hot coffee.
Demonstrations take place daily outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, which hosts an ICE detention center. Hundreds of protesters formed a picket line at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Friday so long that it spanned the length of the terminal for departing flights. Tens of thousands more braved subzero temperatures to march the streets of the downtown neighborhood during a partial economic blackout Friday.
Savannah Thissen protested on the streets where Pretti was killed Saturday evening, hours after the shooting. She said protesting or delivering groceries has become routine for her when she’s not working as a health care coordinator.
“If we don’t risk our safety now and here, they will just keep killing us,” Thissen said.
“My hobbies can wait.”
Leave a Reply