85,000 MoveOn members are calling on ICE to stay out of our schools—add your name to join them!
Dear MoveOn member,
Trump’s militarized ICE is descending upon Minnesota, spreading fear through communities and wreaking havoc on essential services for families like child care and education. In one school district alone, four students, including a 5-year-old, have been detained by ICE.1
Just weeks ago, ICE agents forcibly removed a teacher at a Jardin Spanish Immersion Academy branch in Minneapolis from her car as parents were dropping children off at school.2 And according to Minnesota’s second-largest public school district, multiple vans that carry students and staff have been pulled over by federal agents while en route to school.3
The Trump administration claims not to target schools or day cares, but stories pouring out of Minnesota say otherwise. Like many places in the country, 14% of Minnesota’s early education workforce was born outside the U.S.4 As Trump’s ICE keeps disappearing more and more people, teachers, students, and parents alike face mounting pressure to stay home.
“Being a student in Minneapolis right now can be really scary,” Lila Dominguez, a Minnesota high school student, told a reporter. “The fact that our own government is keeping us from the schools that they provide and they want us to be at is scary, and it’s sad and it’s angering.”
Lila attends Roosevelt High School, a Minneapolis public school whose school grounds ICE agents entered earlier this month, using chemical irritants and use of force on students and staff.5 It’s heartbreaking that young people like Lila are scared about something as fundamental as getting an education because of the terror and violence from ICE agents.
Keep schools safe—keep ICE out!
Child care providers are on the front lines of ICE’s attacks on our communities. One owner of a Spanish immersion school in Minnesota says that half of her staff has stopped coming to work. “They’re scared for themselves and for their families. What’s going to happen?”6
And in Chicago, when a mother was snatched by ICE outside of her children’s school, her child care provider was ready with a plan to pick up her kids and get them home safe.7
All children have a right to access a quality education, and our neighborhoods and communities are stronger when kids and their teachers can live without fear or intimidation. But instead of focusing on actions that make our communities safer, the Trump administration is putting bounties on our families.
Parents and community members can do only so much to keep each other safe in Minnesota and across the country.8 Child care workers are building a network of resistance against ICE, but we need local leaders to use their power and fight for families now.9
Thanks for all you do.
–Mia, Bekir, Corinne, Aliya, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. “ICE detains 4 Minnesota students, including 5-year-old, school district says,” NBC, January 22, 2026
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ice-detains-4-minnesota-students-5-year-old-school-district-says-rcna255366
2. “ICE operations are encroaching on schools and day cares,” The Minnesota Star Tribune, January 16, 2026
https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-daycares-say-ice-is-targeting-its-workers/601560204
3. Ibid.
4. “ICE surge worsens child care staffing crunch in Minnesota,” Axios, January 21, 2026
https://www.axios.com/local/twin-cities/2026/01/21/minnesota-child-care-ice-surge
5. “Witnesses say agents arrest Minneapolis school staff, tear gas students; DHS claims no tear gas was used,” KARE 11, January 10, 2026
https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/ice-agents-flood-into-roosevelt-high-school-in-minneapolis/89-e0d004b0-bb3d-41b7-949c-e4867f97f7c9
6. “Spanish immersion schools feeling impact of immigration enforcement,” KSTP, January 14, 2026
https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/spanish-immersion-schools-feeling-impact-of-immigration-enforcement/
7. “Child care workers are building a network of resistance against ICE,” The 19th, November 20, 2025
https://19thnews.org/2025/11/ice-child-care-workers-network-of-resistance/
8. “Whistles and walkie-talkies: Minneapolis keeps guard over schools amid ICE arrests,” Reuters, January 17, 2026
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/whistles-walkie-talkies-minneapolis-keeps-guard-over-schools-amid-ice-arrests-2026-01-17/
9. “Child care workers are building a network of resistance against ICE,” The 19th, November 20, 2025
https://19thnews.org/2025/11/ice-child-care-workers-network-of-resistance/he video released by the six Democrats in Congress did not go into specifics about what orders have been given that violated the Constitution or U.S. law. But 10 other military veterans echoed their claims in a video of their own. “They are trying to influence our military to serve the president, not the Constitution, and not the American people,” said Kristofer Goldsmith, Iraq War veteran and former sergeant in the U.S. Army.5
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