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By Amy Cram Helwich
Executive Director of the Minnesota Urban Debate League
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It seemed like a typical late January morning—9 degrees, sun peeking over the horizon, kids walking to school. However, it was anything but typical. I gripped my coffee, and scanned the block outside my daughter’s school as I patrolled with other parent volunteers to ensure students safely entered and left each day.
Our concern was warranted. The previous week, federal agents crashed into a constitutional observer's car and arrested them, one block from the school. Students would have been walking home, except there wasn't school that day—canceled so teachers could plan for virtual learning. Nine thousand children, nearly 25 percent of all district students, now learn virtually.
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To describe the past 10 weeks is to detail daily chaos across all aspects of our lives. It is traumatic for all children, but particularly for those most vulnerable. Here are some examples of what Minnesota Urban Debate League (MNUDL) students have endured:
—December 1: The president, the world’s most powerful person, calls the Somali community “garbage,” among even more dehumanizing, unprintable remarks.
—December 3: We host our first East African Policy Debate tournament, open to all students and focused on cultural and policy issues central to the East African diaspora. Our team implements exhaustive safety procedures, and 50 brave students attend.
—December 6-11: Our program’s home, Augsburg University, receives two bomb threats. Meanwhile, immigration agents tackle and assault Somali-born citizens while detaining them in the neighborhood near Augsburg. We are forced to postpone East African policy programming until after winter break.
—January 7: Renee Good is shot and killed in south Minneapolis by immigration agents. Agents arrive at Roosevelt High School during dismissal, where they tackle students, detain a teacher and use tear gas and pepper spray on students and staff. We planned to hold our first middle school debate tournament at this very high school the following day. I keep thinking about what would have happened if 150 middle school students had arrived at that scene; our team chooses virtual programming.
—January 16-17: The State Debate Tournament is scheduled in the same neighborhood as an anti-immigrant hate rally. We work with partners to move the event on four days' notice. Students compete under a cloud of fear and anxiety. Coaches, judges and staff foster a sense of normalcy for students while celebrating their achievements.
—January 24: Alex Pretti is shot and killed by federal agents. Minneapolis’s Whittier neighborhood is saturated with tear gas and pepper spray.
Until January 2025, schools were off-limits to immigration enforcement. Education Minnesota, the teachers’ union, now joins school districts in suing the federal government to restore schools as a protected space. Advisory board member June Hoidal, lead plaintiff in the suit, said: “For decades, administrations of both parties recognized that schools are different—places where children learn, where families gather and where fear has no place.”
There are daily experiences of fear in schools across the metro. Nearly all districts have experienced lockdowns because agents circle their buildings. Learning is disrupted, and recess is canceled. Parents were taken from school bus stops, in front of their children. Day cares have been targeted, with staff detained. Vans transporting children in the state’s largest districts were stopped by agents.
“After ICE agents assassinated a white U.S. citizen, it became evident that their brutality extended beyond people of color, and no one was truly safe. Only hours later, my former high school, Roosevelt, was surrounded by ICE agents. When community members and staff attempted to protect students, officers responded by firing tear gas, pepper spray and smoke bombs, additionally tackling and detaining adults and even a student. The continuous brutality demonstrated that day made it clear that this was no longer a political matter or an issue limited to immigration status. It is a direct violation of the human right to education and safety for all,” a MNUDL alum said.
Minnesotans are meeting this moment. Thirty thousand people are trained as constitutional observers. Millions have been donated. Neighbors are more connected with their community than ever before. Students show up for their classmates, organizing walk-outs and exercising their civil rights. Our schools became a bulwark against isolation and chaos. PTAs, school social workers and programs like ours support students through programming, care packages and basic needs such as food and rent.
The last 10 weeks have been traumatic and exhausting—our whistles against their guns. Two Minnesotans are dead, and thousands of children have had their learning disrupted while experiencing constant fear.
Recently, they announced the surge will end. I am hopeful yet skeptical; hundreds of actions continue today. Minnesotans need you. This generational trauma will not be easily healed. Please join us in demanding accountability. Meanwhile, Minnesotans will continue to do what we do best—take care of our neighbors.
Amy Cram Helwich has been the executive director of the Minnesota Urban Debate League since 2009 and brings more than 25 years of nonprofit management experience to her role. Amy competed in academic debate in both high school and college, and believes in its power to engage students and create pathways for academic success. She holds a master's degree in public administration from the University of Pittsburgh.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
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