""We reached out to just see, 'Hey, what's going on? Is your child sick?'" said Angela Clair, whose child care center serves more than 70 children. The girl's mother answered the phone. "ICE is in our neighborhood every single day, and I don't want to leave the neighborhood to take her to school, because I'm afraid that myself or my husband will be taken," Clair recalls the mother saying."
"With the girl's absences creeping towards 25, Clair had to un-enroll her. "It's just unfortunate because mom does not want her to not be in school," Clair said. "But also knows it's just not safe right now." Minnesota is entering the third month of "Operation Metro Surge," in which thousands of immigration agents are sweeping the state, arresting immigrants - including many who are in the U.S. legally."
Thousands of immigration agents are conducting Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota, carrying out sweeps and arrests that include some legal residents. Agents have shot three people, killing two U.S. citizens, and sparked protests and monitoring efforts. Many immigrant parents avoid leaving neighborhoods because of daily ICE presence and fear arrest, resulting in frequent child absences from child care and school. Federally funded Child Care Assistance Program rules strip subsidies after 10 consecutive absences or more than 25 missed days in a year, causing centers to unenroll children. Widespread absences threaten low-margin child-care providers' enrollment, revenue, and ability to serve subsidized families.
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