This browser does not support the Video element.
How ICE enforcement operations impacted Minnesota schools, students
School districts in Minnesota continue to feel the impact of the Trump Administration's immigration enforcement operations. FOX 9 Investigator Nathan O'Neal has more.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - School districts across the metro are still grappling with the Trump Administration’s ongoing immigration enforcement months after federal agents targeted students, bus stops and school parking lots during Operation Metro Surge.
"Thin I.C.E.", a new docuseries from FOX 9 Documentaries, includes interviews with Minnesota education officials and ICE observers who tried to protect schools and students during Operation Metro Surge. Part one premieres Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 10:35 p.m. CT. on FOX 9.
Fewer students after Operation Metro Surge
Big picture view:
School districts with large immigrant populations, like Columbia Heights, Saint Paul and Minneapolis have reported losing dozens of students and millions of dollars in funding because of declining enrollments attributed to Operation Metro Surge.
Saint Paul Public Schools are now considering teacher layoffs because of the financial impact attributed to the immigration operation.
Why you should care:
Schools, once deemed sensitive locations that were off-limits to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, were regularly targeted during the Trump Administration’s enhanced immigration operations.
"They absolutely came onto our school property," said Columbia Heights Superintendent Zena Stenvik.
Stenvik became one of the most vocal critics of Operation Metro Surge after a 5-year-old boy and his father were detained on the way home from school.
Pictures of Liam Ramos wearing a blue bunny hat and a backpack while being surrounded by armed federal agents went viral and forced the Trump Administration to publicly defend the operation.
Photo taken by bystanders of Liam Conejo Ramos at the scene of his detainment by ICE. Photo courtesy of Columbia Heights Public Schools (Supplied)
"I did not have an understanding of how far it would go and how much it would really touch the hearts of the entire world," Stenvik said.
From school to an ICE plane
What they're saying:
A former elementary school principal reflected on the emotional toll Operation Metro Surge had on students, families and staff, including what he called the "worst day" of his career.
Jason Kuhlman, then the principal at Valley View Elementary, said a parent asked him to bring her two children to the Whipple Federal Building where she had been unexpectedly detained during an immigration check-in.
"I get emotional about it just because that’s not what we signed up to do. That’s against my morals and my values to bring kids down where they’re going to be detained," Kuhlman said.
Kuhlman said those students were sent to a detention center in Dilley, Texas within hours even though the district presented paperwork proving the family was actively seeking asylum.
"The agent didn’t look at the paperwork at all, just stuck them on a plane and away they were," Kuhlman recalled.
Other students suddenly disappeared without the district knowing whether they had already been deported or were simply in hiding.
"We knew they were missing, we knew we lost contact with them, but we didn't know where they were," Kuhlman said.
No more safe places
The other side:
Rep. Walter Hudson (R-Albertville) defended federal agents who patrolled school zones during Operation Metro Surge.
"I don't think there's anywhere you should be able to go where you're no longer subject to the laws of the land in which you live," Hudson said, while acknowledging that school districts can deny agents who do not have judicial warrants.
"The school can tell you that we don't want you in here and your administrative warrant doesn't override their authority over that space, but you most certainly can sit in the parking lot, sit across the street, wait outside," Hudson said in the upcoming documentary.
In response, ICE observers monitored playgrounds and bus stops for months.
"The middle schooler who lives near me called me and asked if ICE was chasing him home from the bus stop, if he could hide in my house," said Tippy Amundson, who helped families in Brooklyn Park during the surge.
"I put that 12-year-old in my car and I drove him down the street and I said, 'you can hide in that house, you can hide in the house, you can hide in that house.'"
Watch "Thin I.C.E" documentary series
What's next:
"Thin I.C.E." is a three-part series by FOX 9 Documentaries detailing the Trump Administration's immigration operations in Chicago and Minneapolis that resulted in constitutional challenges, violent tactics and deadly shootings.
Thin I.C.E. Part I: "Worst of the Worst" premieres Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 10:35 p.m. CT on FOX 9, FOX LOCAL and the FOX 9 YouTube channel.
- Nov. 4 - Thin I.C.E. Part I: "Worst of the Worst"
- Nov. 11 - Thin I.C.E. Part II: "Domestic Terrorists"
- Nov. 18 - Thin I.C.E. Part III: "Chaos"
The Source: FOX 9 conducted dozens of interviews, analyzed hundreds of court records and reviewed hours of body video footage recorded during immigration operations in Chicago and Minneapolis.