WASHINGTON – After months of being too scared to leave their homes to go to school, more than 500 children this week returned to in-person classes at Columbia Heights Public Schools, a huge moment of celebration and pride for school leaders in this Minneapolis-area suburb once swarming with federal immigration enforcement agents.
The school district’s fourth quarter kicked off on Tuesday, and high school staff lined the hallway entry to their building as students walked in through a “Safe Passage” bunny bridge decorated with origami bunnies sent from supporters nationwide, a symbol of care and solidarity. At the middle school, students were greeted with a gold carpet and a balloon arch. Some students just walked in and hugged the teachers they hadn’t seen since January.
“Columbia Heights Public Schools are once again filled with energy, connection and renewed focus on learning,” the school said in a Friday statement. “Hallways were filled with smiles, hugs and reunions, reflecting the resilience of the Columbia Heights community.”
This school district was, for months, a prime target of the Trump administration’s surge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers into Minnesota. ICE officers patrolled this heavily Latino community on a daily basis, circling the schools, taunting school staff, traumatizing immigrant families and dragging people of color out of their cars, often leaving behind empty and still-running cars on the streets.
