(Photo: Students at Roosevelt High School walk out to protest ICE in Minneapolis on Jan 12, 2026. Credit: Chris Juhn for Sahan Journal)
Help our neighbors who are terrified to leave their homes.
I'm part of a group of educators in a large school district in the South Metro of the Twin Cities. I teach English Language Development, often known as ESL, which means I work mainly with first-or second-generation immigrant students. Since the surge of ICE and other federal agents into Minnesota in recent weeks, my colleagues and I have seen many of our students stop showing up to school because they or their families fear confrontations with ICE.
They have good reason to be scared. There are over 2000 federal agents on the streets in the Twin Cities right now, with hundreds more on the way. In addition to murdering (and then repeatedly slandering) Renee Good, agents across the region have been recorded in dozens of violent altercations with our neighbors in the last few days alone.
People are being stopped on the street by large groups of masked, camouflaged men, and grilled about their citizenship status based solely on how they look. Those who refuse to answer are detained.
Peaceful protestors and bystanders have been repeatedly physically attacked, including by reckless use of chemical agents (sometimes on minors, as at Roosevelt high school, mentioned above).
Just this morning (it is Jan 14th as I write this) a man was taken while waiting for the school bus with his elementary-aged child. One of our graduates from last year, a whip-smart, vivacious young man, was detained last week and is, for now, in custody in El Paso, Texas.
The list, heartbreakingly, goes on. Fortunately, our district is one of a number that are beginning to provide some of our students the opportunity to access their learning from home, so they and their families don't have to risk violence or arrest while trying to get an education.
But even leaving home to go to work is too much for some to risk. This fundraiser is to provide support for these young people and their families. We are raising money for a general "family support fund." This means that we may use the funds to buy and deliver groceries or other supplies, and to help with paying bills or replacing lost wages, as needed, for our neighbors who are scared to leave their homes these days. In the future, there may be other needs that arise, as well, such as legal defense.
The fund will be administered by me and the other ELD teachers in my department, for the students of our school and others in the district who are negatively impacted by the massive and terrifying surge of federal agents into our home.