Several of Minnesota’s largest school districts, including those of Minneapolis and St. Paul, are offering students the option to learn remotely amid a federal immigration crackdown that has left many families on edge.
In Minneapolis, where 37-year-old Renee Good was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent last week, students will have the option to learn online until Feb. 12.
The school district in St. Paul said it would offer an online option starting next week.
“Over the past several days, I have received hundreds of messages about offering a temporary virtual learning option for students who do not feel comfortable coming to school right now,” said St. Paul’s schools superintendent, Stacie Stanley, in a video message on Wednesday.
St. Paul’s school district, the state’s second largest, is home to a significant immigrant population. Many students speak Spanish, Hmong, Somali or another foreign language at home.
About half of Spanish-speaking students in St. Paul and a quarter of Somali-speaking students were absent from school last Friday, as tensions escalated in the aftermath of Ms. Good’s death, according to district data.
Minneapolis Public Schools declined to make attendance data available.
The Trump administration launched an immigration enforcement operation in the Twin Cities, primarily focused on Somali immigrants, in December, and last week, ICE announced it was amping up its presence in the Minneapolis area in its “largest operation to date.”
Trump administration officials have said that ICE does not target or raid schools, though the administration has rescinded Biden-era guidance that limited immigration enforcement activities in or near “sensitive” locations, such as schools, churches and hospitals.
Research has shown that immigration raids can lead to increased student absences, hurting student achievement and opportunities to learn, even when they do not occur on school grounds.
The situation in the Minneapolis area has been especially tense since Ms. Good was killed.
Border Patrol agents clashed with protesters outside a Minneapolis high school last week, hours after the shooting. In Robbinsdale, a northwest suburb, school officials said that ICE agents detained a parent at a bus stop on Wednesday morning while the parent was dropping a child off for school.
In Fridley, a district of about 2,700 students north of Minneapolis, roughly a third of students have been absent so far this week, according to the superintendent, Brenda Lewis. The district has a significant Hispanic and Somali population.
“Students are terrified to come to school,” Dr. Lewis said.
The district is planning to offer an online option starting next week.
Sarah Mervosh covers education for The Times, focusing on K-12 schools.
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