Minneapolis and St. Paul Schools Offer Remote Learning Amid ICE Operation

Several of Minnesota’s largest school districts, including Minneapolis and St. Paul, are offering students the option to learn remotely as families keep children home amid a federal immigration enforcement operation and the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis.

In Minneapolis, students will have the option to learn online until Feb. 12. St. Paul’s district said it would offer a virtual option starting next week; its superintendent, Stacie Stanley, said she had received “hundreds of messages about offering a temporary virtual learning option for students who do not feel comfortable coming to school right now.” District data show about half of Spanish-speaking students and a quarter of Somali-speaking students in St.

Paul were absent last Friday. Minneapolis Public Schools declined to make attendance data available. The Trump administration launched an enforcement operation in the Twin Cities in December, primarily focused on Somali immigrants, and ICE said it was amping up its presence in the area in its “largest operation to date.” The situation has been tense since Ms.

Good’s death: Border Patrol agents clashed with protesters outside a Minneapolis high school, ICE detained a parent at a Robbinsdale bus stop, and Fridley officials said roughly a third of students have been absent this week.

Key Topics

Politics, Ice, Minneapolis Public Schools, St. Paul Schools, Renee Good, Stacie Stanley