January 28, 2026

How Immigration Raids Are Impacting Schools in Minneapolis

Immigration enforcement activity near a Minneapolis high school is raising questions about student safety, attendance, and trust. This lesson helps students examine what happened and why it matters for schools.

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PBS News Hour Classroom

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Note: If you are short on time, watch the video and complete this See, Think, Wonder activity: What did you notice? What did the story make you think? What would you want to learn more about?

The ICE operations in the Twin Cities are also affecting children who are caught up in the surge of personnel and detentions. A 5-year-old boy who was held by federal agents is a student in the Columbia Heights School District. Liz Landers discussed the incident with Superintendent Zena Stenvik.

View the transcript of the story.

Warm-Up Questions

Who is the boy described in this story, and what is his background?
What happened to Liam, according to reports?
Where was Liam transferred by immigration officers?
How have federal immigration officers responded to concern about Liam?
Why does Zena Stenvik say that the federal government's version of events is misleading?

Essential Questions

In this interview, Zena Stenvik says that there is "nothing normal about our daily lives at this point." What sort of examples does she provide? How do you think the difficulties she described are impacting the learning environment for students?
How do you think schools can best be protected from the impacts of federal immigration enfocement actions?
Media literacy: Why do you think News Hour producers chose to interview a school superintendent? Who else do you think they might have interviewed about immigration agents in schools?

What Students Can Do

Read more about the case of five-year-old Liam's detainment in the AP article, "Federal officers detain 5-year-old boy who a Minnesota school official says was used as 'bait'"

After reading the article, discuss as a class —

Based on the description of events in the article, do you think it's fair to characterize the actions of federal officers as using Liam as "bait"? Why or why not?
Why do you think federal agents are using tactics such as these if the goal as stated is to deport the "worst of the worst" criminals?

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Republished with permission from PBS News Hour Classroom.

Critical Thinking

PBS News Hour Classroom

PBS News Hour Classroom helps teachers and students identify the who, what, where and why-it-matters of the major national and international news stories. The site combines the best of News Hour's reliable, trustworthy news program with lesson plans developed specifically for... See More