Minnesota has been facing a massive, wide-scale tragedy funded and initiated by the federal government. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, under the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security has infiltrated our community, detaining and scaring many across the state.
This has sadly included seven students from our district, Columbia Heights Public Schools (CHPS), most notably Liam Conejo Ramos, a pre-school student at Valley View Elementary. Ramos was infamously detained on January 20 and released on February 1, largely thanks to school leaders, the press, protesters, organizers and Ramos family attorney Marc Prokosch. This traumatic event has subjected Ramos, his family and his community to an unimaginable amount of stress.
Other students detained include Elizabeth Zuna Caisaguano (4), a Highland Elementary school student who was apprehended alongside her mother on January 6 on their way to school and sent to Dilley Detention Center in Texas. Zuna Caisaguano and her mother returned to Minnesota on February 5 after a similarly protracted (and what activists considered to be unnecessary) legal process.
Additionally, Columbia Heights High School (CHHS) student Sara Pilca Quipe (11) and her mother were reportedly detained on January 14, though this wasn’t confirmed by the CHPS Communications Department until February 18, creating a sense of unease among staff and peers. Pilca Quillpe and her mother are reportedly now somewhere in Ecuador, though it’s uncertain whether this was by choice or force. Besides these three named students, four other CHPS students whose families did not release their names to the press were also detained in January.
Despite ICE and U.S. Border Patrol officers chasing down so-called “illegal” immigrants, their tactics have been called out by human rights experts and organizations like the ACLU as not following the Constitution, specifically the 4th and 10th amendments, which provide protections from racial profiling and federal coercion of state and local governments, respectively, for both citizens and non-citizens in America. President Donald Trump’s administration has also claimed and defended ICE agents who have entered homes without a judicial warrant and harassed residents who fail to comply with often confusing, unreasonable orders, or simply bystanders who are legally observing and documenting the activity and operations of federal law enforcement, which is legal and protected by the Constitution.
ICE has also targeted Native American communities, which many critics have pointed out as ironic since Native Americans are the only true non-immigrants who live in the U.S. ICE has arrested and detained multiple Native Americans on land that is owned by Native American peoples through various treaties. Between these concerning factors and the roundly rebuked targeting and detainment of children, the majority of CHPS staff and students have been frustrated, saddened and angered by these traumatic infringements on our community.
“The safety of students, staff and families is a top priority for Columbia Heights Public Schools. We have regular safety protocols in place, and since the surge of ICE operations near and around our schools, we have had to take extra precautions,” CHPS Superintendent Ms. Zena Stenvik said. “Signs stating ‘No ICE access without a signed judicial warrant’ were placed at every door. I am frustrated by the lawless actions taken by ICE agents apprehending and detaining people who have legal status to live and work in the United States. I am very concerned about the abhorrent conditions of the detention centers, including Dilley in Texas. I continue to be very concerned about the long-lasting impacts this traumatic period will take on our students, staff and community.”
On February 4, the Trump administration claimed they were “drawing down” their troops from Minnesota. Many CHPS students, staff and community members from all around the metro area have said that they will not truly feel safe until ICE sightings come to an end. However, various documented instances of ICE actively patrolling around Minnesota have continued to this day. Even if the number of ICE troops has truly decreased from 4,000 to 400 as court filings have indicated, their footprint both past and present will continue to affect states outside of Minnesota.
“There aren’t as many sightings as there were before, and each day there are fewer and fewer,” CHPS Board Chair Ms. Mary Granlund said. “However, I’m reluctant to claim that they’re all the way gone. I think it’ll take some time for the community to feel and believe that.”
While the Heights Herald always tries to stay neutral in its news reporting, we once again find ourselves in unprecedented times that require unprecedented measures. The facts are clear: federal officials and officers have tried to break apart our communities and families. They are trying to control us through fear. But we are refusing to let it defeat us. We have voices, and we will use them. When one Hylander is at risk, we all are. It is time to be louder than ever — for Liam, for Elizabeth, for Sara and for ourselves.
