'How Do You Teach a Child Who Has Been Pepper-Sprayed?'-The Impact of ICE on Educators | Nonprofit Quarterly | Civic News. Empowering Nonprofits. Advancing Justice.

"The exact number of immigration enforcement officers carrying out President Trump's "Operation Metro Surge" in Minneapolis, MN, has not been publicly announced. Estimates stretch well into the thousands. Though Trump's newly designated "border czar" Tom Homan declared on February 12 that the operation would end, no details have been released, and people in Minneapolis continue to report ICE activities. Regardless, the damage lingers."

"Ramos was then used as bait by ICE to attempt to lure other family members out of their home. After more than a week at a detainment center in Texas, Ramos, who became very ill while in ICE custody, and his father were reunited and flown home on February 1. They are now in hiding. In his public school system alone, four children have been detained by ICE."

"Educators have witnessed ICE's tactics firsthand and the often violent—repeatedly, deadly -confrontations. They live in a place where armed agents walk the sidewalk near schools and abandoned cars signal recent detainments. Daily, teachers count the students missing from their classrooms. "If I try to visualize how ICE is impacting education, it is as if a large boulder has been dropped from a bridge into a lake.""

Unknown numbers of immigration enforcement officers conducted a massive operation in Minneapolis labeled "Operation Metro Surge," with estimates reaching into the thousands. Officials announced an end to the operation but provided no details, and ICE activity persisted in the city. The campaign included arrests in front of schools, the detention of a five-year-old used as bait, and at least four children detained within one public school system. Educators reported violent confrontations, armed agents near schools, abandoned cars marking detainments, and a pattern of students not returning to class. Three educators requested anonymity for safety while describing the impact on students and communities.

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