NSS Weekly: How Operation Metro Surge Is Impacting the State’s Education System

Transcript

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INTRO: You are listening to North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, a newscast about what it means to live in Minnesota, produced by AMPERS, with support from the McKnight Foundation and the State of Minnesota.

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HOST: This is North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live. I'm Chantel SinGs.

The state's legislature begins the first session of 2026 with a somber tribute to lives lost and new agendas from both Republicans and Democrats. The Minnesota House and Senate came together for a joint memorial in honor of former Speaker Melissa Hortman, her husband Mark Hortman and Senator John Hoffman. This is the first session since the political assassination of Speaker Hortman, and her husband and dog, and the attempted murder of Senator John Hoffman and his wife.

While opening day focused on peace and unity, the agenda for the upcoming session is topped with issues related to the attacks, Operation Metro Surge and recent fraud scandals. Democrat priorities include gun restrictions, state economic recovery funding packages, fraud safeguards, and legislation on cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. The Republicans' agenda prioritizes government accountability, fraud prevention, economic affordability, and school safety.

The new Legislative Session started under tighter security at the Minnesota State Capitol. Visitors must now pass through metal detectors and weapons checks at public entrances. Officers will scan bags and send people through metal detectors. Anyone who refuses the process will be turned away.

CHRISTINA BOGOJEVIC: This is not a weapons ban. This does not change state law…. What we're doing is adding a layer of protection so everyone can enjoy this historic building safely.

HOST: Minnesota State Patrol Colonel Christina Bogojevic says screening helps security spot risks before they become emergencies. Valid permit holders may still bring a handgun, but they must declare it to security and present a government ID. Most other weapons remain banned inside the building.

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In today's program, we look at how the federal operation affected the state's education system. And, we head out to the Boundary Waters to explore how a community is responding to federal legislation that would shift focus for the mining industry and EPA regulation of public lands and waterways.

But first, reporter Xan Holston brings us the top stories from the past week.

TOM HOMAN: I have proposed, and President Trump has concurred, that this surge operation conclude

XAN HOLSTON: That was Border Czar Tom Homan last week announcing the end of Operation Metro Surge, the massive federal immigration crackdown that started in December. The operation brought 3,000 federal agents to the state and left two citizens dead. Homan says he'll remain to oversee the withdrawal and has already shipped more than 1,000 agents back to their home stations or other parts of the country. He claims Metro Surge netted more than 4,000 arrests, including 200 protesters at his own press conference. The same day as Homan's, Governor Tim Walz struck a hopeful and defiant tone.

GOVERNOR TIM WALZ: We've been through challenges. We've been through natural disasters. We've been through COVID. But this is something that I don't think any state has ever experienced.

XAN HOLSTON: Walz says it's unclear what prompted the end of Operation Metro Surge. He says the state hasn't made any new agreements with ICE or changed how it works with federal agents. He suspects it's a response to mounting public pressure after agents killed Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti, along with weeks of protests and lawsuits.

GOVERNOR TIM WALZ: An issue the President saw himself as being strong, certainly politically, has eroded into an albatross around their neck.

XAN HOLSTON: Legal scrutiny and frustration is also growing. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons placed two immigration officers on leave last week for their roles in the non -fatal shooting of Venezuelan man Cesar Sosa-Celis in Minneapolis in January. He said they lied under oath about being attacked.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, or BCA, says the FBI has formally denied it access to evidence in the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a move the agency calls unprecedented. The BCA says it also requested information in the shooting of Sosa-Celis and the killing of Good. The FBI hasn't yet responded. Walz says the focus now is on recovery, and he's demanding the Trump administration help pay for the damage and disruption left behind.

GOVERNOR TIM WALZ: The federal government needs to pay for what they broke here. You don't get to break things and then just leave without doing something about it.

XAN HOLSTON: Law enforcement says the damage goes beyond finances. Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt, like other officials, says the county has not changed its relationship with ICE. It does not hold people for immigration pickup beyond their scheduled release, and deputies did not take part in civil immigration enforcement

DAWANNA WITT: Relationships have been strained, not only by the operation itself, but by misinformation, rumors, confusion about the roles and what this office played during Metro Surge.

XAN HOLSTON: While state and local officials express relief at the announcement that Metro Surge is ending, community organizers say they don't believe the surge is truly over.

EDWIN TORRES DE SANTIAGO: It's naive to say that it's ending, because just this morning, there were operations in Shakopee.

XAN HOLSTON: Edwin Torres de Santiago is an organizer with the Immigrant Defense Network, a statewide coalition of immigrant's rights organizations. De Santiago questions the legality of ICE tactics and demands justice for families grieving in the wake of the operation.

EDWIN TORRES DE SANTIAGO: And that's why we're calling for a full transparent investigation into the enforcement practices, the use of force, the surveillance and the civil rights violations.

XAN HOLSTON: For North Star Stories, I'm Xan Holston.

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As officials announce the end of Operation Metro Surge, communities in the Twin Cities are beginning to feel the lasting effects of months of heavily armed federal agents in their neighborhoods. The 'new normal' is especially evident at local schools. Reporter Katharine DeCelle speaks with educators, parents, and students about how schools are still adapting to this new reality.

MANDI: I have students who don't know where their parents are. They came home and they're gone. I have students who've been stopped themselves by ICE and they're 12 years old.

KATHARINE DECELLE: That's a seventh-grade science teacher in St Paul who we will call Mandi to protect her students' privacy. She says Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, or ICE, negatively affect her ability to teach and her students' ability to learn.

MANDI: A third to half of my students are staying home. They're staying home in a lot of cases to protect their parents, which is such a burden for a 12-year-old to carry.

KATHARINE DECELLE: Many Minnesota schools are offering online learning options to students so kids can learn at home, and parents don't have to worry about being detained by ICE agents on their way to and from school. But unlike during the pandemic, online learning this time is leaning on the teacher's ability.

MANDI: There are teachers who are producing videos. There are teachers who are delivering the same kind of content in person as online. There are teachers who are developing completely different online curriculum for kids at home.

KATHARINE DECELLE: Mandi's school does not offer hybrid classes for safety reasons. So teachers do not live stream their classroom lessons to students at home.

MANDI: There was an incident in one of the suburbs where kids were streaming into a child's home, and the child's home was raided by immigration agents, which is obviously traumatizing for that student, but also for everyone who had to see it.

KATHARINE DECELLE: Fear is impacting students across the state. Monica Byron is the president of Education Minnesota, the state's largest teachers union.

MONICA BYRON: One of the greatest threats to the health and safety of Minnesota school-aged children right now are the ICE and Border Patrol agents in our state. The ICE presence at and near Minnesota schools is causing lockdowns, emptying schools and traumatizing children every day.

KATHARINE DECELLE: Education Minnesota, along with Fridley and Duluth public school districts, are suing the Department of Homeland Security. The district says DHS broke the law when it changed a long-standing rule last year that had kept ICE agents away from schools.

JOHN MAGUS: This lawsuit is more than just about our district or the districts that are signed on. It's about standing up for the fundamental principle that schools must remain safe and welcoming environments that are secure places for every child, regardless of their background or immigration status.

KATHARINE DECELLE: John Magus is the Duluth Schools Superintendent and says that Duluth has not experienced some of the large-scale ICE enforcements as other Minnesota cities.

JOHN MAGUS: Some of you might ask, why is Duluth taking a lead in this? Why are we interested? It's important for us to stand up as good neighbors.

KATHARINE DECELLE: Also speaking at the press conference, Peggy Nelson, an elementary teacher in Columbia Heights, a Minneapolis suburb.

PEGGY NELSON: We now have 130 students absent because they're afraid to come to school, at least 27 family members of students in our building alone have been detained. We are providing rent and food support for many of our families.

KATHARINE DECELLE: Stable family housing is also key to learning. Other educators are asking Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to put a moratorium on rent. Recently, teachers, parents and demonstrators gathered outside the governor's home in St Paul to demand an end to evictions in the state of Minnesota, saying the surge in ICE enforcement has led to families staying home, losing income and struggling to pay rent. Demonstrators outside the governor's home sang songs around a makeshift classroom in the street. An empty desk held a sign that read, "This student was absent because his dad was taken by ICE."

JAEDYN: We're here to say, "Tim, you're a teacher. You're a coach. Please do the right thing, and don't let these really hard-working families that contribute a lot to our communities be out on the street."

KATHARINE DECELLE: Jaedyn, a former teacher, is protesting because she believes children should not be afraid going to school.

JAEDYN: Minnesota is highly rated for being well educated, and the kids that aren't being abducted, the kids that are left in school, it is not fair that they're being traumatized.

KATHARINE DECELLE: Each morning, St Paul teacher Mandi sees the impact of rising fear firsthand.

MANDI: Pick up and drop off is the most sensitive time for schools because the school is fairly locked down. So it's literally the children walking from the bus into the building or walking from their parents vehicle into the building.

KATHARINE DECELLE: At many metro area schools, people in yellow vests stand outside, parents and community members who have stepped in to be guards to keep watch. Grace is a Twin Cities sixth grader who rides the school bus.

GRACE: We have to have teachers on the busses to make sure, like the little kids aren't taken by ICE. I don't even know why ICE is a thing, like, what purpose does it have? Because they're hurting people, and they don't need to be.

KATHARINE DECELLE: After filing their federal lawsuit, Duluth and Fridley public schools, along with Education Minnesota, are still pushing to restore protected status for schools. Federal officials say agents are not targeting children and Border Czar Tom Holman says Operation Metro Surge was a success as more than 1,000 immigration agents have already left the Twin Cities with hundreds more expected to follow. But educators like Mandi warn that fear and disruption remain and say many children still aren't getting the education they deserve.

MANDI: Children are entitled to an education in the United States, regardless of their immigration status.

KATHARINE DECELLE: For North Star Stories, I'm Katharine DeCelle.

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HOST: Changes in federal immigration enforcement across the Twin Cities are prompting some parents to step up and support their school communities. And joining us now is Destiny Prosper. She's an active parent at Jenny Lind Elementary in North Minneapolis and recently started a GoFundMe to support classmates and families who sheltered in place during the ICE surge. Thank you so much, Destiny, for joining us today. Was there a specific moment or incident that pushed you to take action?

DESTINY PROSPER: Thank you so much for having me. I think the moment that struck me that something needed to happen was when the teachers called back in January and offered a month of distant learning like it was so powerful to me. Because that spoke to the real fear that exists within the community. It showed that families were considering keeping their kids home just to keep them safe, like going to school the first couple of days right after they made that announcement that, you know, they could move to e-learning, it was heartbreaking. That's when I knew I'm like, we have to step up and do something to support these families.

HOST: I can only imagine the change in energy and how traumatic it has been. How's your daughter's daily routine changed since the federal operations began?

DESTINY PROSPER: There definitely has been a shift in her emotional awareness. Having to sit down and explain to her that ICE is taking people from their homes, and it's not the ice outside. You know, we're dealing with ICE here in Minnesota. So she's like, "Ice, mom, ice is everywhere." And I'm like, "Okay, now it's time to sit down and it's time for us to talk about it." Even if they don't necessarily understand what's going on, they feel it like me as an adult, I see it, I can assess it, I can process it and understand what's going on, but for them, it's just this, this missing presence. So there's definitely been a change in her just emotional awareness.

HOST: Now that officials say Operation Metro Surge is ending, how do you feel about it? Do you feel optimistic? What are you seeing around your community, around the school, are families still feeling uncertainty?

DESTINY PROSPER: It may be ending, and I believe that families and even myself, we want to be optimistic, but that uncertainty is still there. I, without saying too much, just was notified of a potential ICE presence not too long ago within my community, and I had to do a drive-by real quick. So that's still happening. And this uncertainty is not going to go away overnight, like they're still going to be the after effects of the families that have been deported. They're still missing family members. There's. still going to be that fear of every black truck that drives down the street like that's the reality of it. There's going to be a long-lasting impact from Metro Surge well after. I don't care if you get all the ICE officers out of here, there's still going to be a lasting effect because of what they done to us as citizens. We're just still trying to assess what this means for those families going forward.

HOST: Thank you for everything that you've been doing. Any final thoughts before we wrap up?

DESTINY PROSPER: I just want to say, you know, what I'm seeing here is, is the community showing up like the presence, the love, the support, just even if it's a thank you message that's coming through, like all of this is keeping, you know, fuel to the fire. Fuel to the fire. Every day I wake up and if it's one person I can connect with, if there's one interview I can do to spread the word, one more share I can get, that's just another family that we can help.

HOST: Well, that's good work. Minnesota will show up. That's all the time we have. We appreciate your time, Destiny. Thank you.

DESTINY PROSPER: Thank you for having me.

HOST: Appreciate you.

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HOST: After the break, how federal legislation awaiting a final US Senate vote may change the mining industry and how a northern community uses its public lands and waterways.

This is North Star Stories, Voices from Where We Live, produced by AMPERS, with support from the McKnight Foundation and the State of Minnesota. We'll be right back.

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HOST: You are listening to North Star Stories. I'm Chantel SinGs.

HOST: Next, the U.S. Senate is set to vote on federal legislation that would remove a moratorium that bans minerals mining and mining leases on public lands and waterways. That would include the Superior National Forest and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness watershed. Reporter frankie felegy talked to locals and leaders in the area about the community's concerns, challenges, and opportunities.

FRANKIE FELEGY: In 2023, under then President Joe Biden, Congress banned mining in the Boundary Waters watershed for 20 years. US Representative Pete Stauber, who's a Minnesota Republican, is leading the way to overturn that moratorium. It's getting closer to becoming law. If passed, the bill would allow mining in northeastern Minnesota and other public lands and waterways and prevent future congressional action to restrict mining. At the center of this debate is a small city in northeastern Minnesota. Ely is a major entry point to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The federal bill could change the future of Ely and the public waters surrounding it.

ERIC URBAS: People really need to figure out what they want out of Ely, and not just to condemn the other side, because there's so much gray area to it all.

FRANKIE FELEGY: Eric Urbas is a fifth-generation Ely resident. Urbas grew up canoeing the Boundary Waters. For decades, his family has owned a local store that rents and sells outdoor gear and canoes. Urbas also works at a local taconite mine. Urbas's family business depends upon the health of the environment and waters. But he says mining is the economic lifeblood of the overall community.

ERIC URBAS: I'm for mining all the way around. I don't understand how you can put a 20-year moratorium on something when technology changes so fast.

FRANKIE FELEGY: Urbas says the regional economy needs year-round jobs like what mining would provide. People can't afford to live in Ely, he says, and while the tourism industry is healthy, it's seasonal.

ERIC URBAS: I don't want this town destroyed or this community destroyed, and that it is falling apart. There's not enough money here to sustain it.

FRANKIE FELEGY: The Critical Mineral Dominance Act just needs a simple majority to pass the US Senate. The house has already passed legislation that would accelerate and expand mineral production on federal land. That includes national forests and public lands like the Boundary Waters.

TARA HOUSKA: There is no way to do this safely.

FRANKIE FELEGY: Tara Houska has deep roots in the area.

TARA HOUSKA: [Introduces herself in Ojbiwe-mowin.] I'm Bear Clan from Couchiching First Nation, born and raised on the shore of Rainy Lake. And yeah, I'm a mom, a land defender, an attorney and a lodge attendee in lots of different capacities.

FRANKIE FELEGY: Houska knows what a jewel the Boundary Waters area is. She says the hard rock mining being proposed is dangerous and damaging.

TARA HOUSKA: It would be devastating for our region period. I mean, it's some of the most pristine water on Earth. People see something like that, and they think about the dollar signs they could get out of it. Some people.

FRANKIE FELEGY: Twin Metals Minnesota supports the federal action to reopen mines. The global mining company has long been interested in mining near the Boundary Waters and setting up in the Rainy River Basin. The company says reopening the mine will provide hundreds of local jobs expands the nation's ability to source essential minerals for electric vehicles and renewable energy, and that mining procedures and processes will meet all current EPA regulations to limit environmental risks. But mining opponents worry drainage will flow through the watershed into the Boundary Waters and Canadian provincial parks. Houska worries about how pollution from sulfide mining could upset the existing tourism hub, and that folks won't want to fish or camp in a polluted watershed.

TARA HOUSKA: You introduce sulfide mining to our region, you obliterate our economy. It's so clearly a crony, a Chilean mining billionaire that wants to profit from destroying our region and destroying our economies too.

FRANKIE FELEGY: Ingrid Lyons is the executive director of Save the Boundary Waters. The coalition is headquartered in Ely. Lyons says hard rock mines, like what Twin Metals is pushing for, don't have good track records.

INGRID LYONS: The mine of this type always pollutes, and they always pollute far more than what was projected in the permitting process. Then those companies close and they lay people off and they leave, and the American taxpayer is left to foot the bill for any pollution that's left behind, as well.

FRANKIE FELEGY: As people wait ahead of the vote, she hopes folks will keep calling their senators to voice their stake in the fight, because Lyons, like canoer and miner Eric Urbas and Ely, just wants a better northeastern Minnesota for everyone. I'm frankie felegy reporting for North Star Stories.

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HOST: The environmental consequences of this decision can have repercussions beyond Northern Minnesota. In a recent letter directed at senators, President Theodore Roosevelt's relatives voiced their opposition to a proposed copper mine upstream from the Boundary Waters. They wrote that President Roosevelt would be "appalled" by the project and overturning the 20-year mining ban would set a dangerous precedent that threatens public land and water protections across the nation.

To understand more of this topic, we're joined now by Kalli Hawkins, News Director at AMPERS member station WTIP in Grand Marais on Minnesota's North Shore. Thank you so much, Kalli, for joining us today. You have followed this story from both sides of the issue. First, quickly, if you could explain, if this is a ban or moratorium, what's the difference between the two?

KALLI HAWKINS: Yeah, this would be basically lifting a mineral withdrawal. So the Biden administration put that 20-year ban on copper mining on about 225,000 acres of federal land, and federal land, of the headwaters, the Boundary Waters. And so this would be, essentially, it's mineral withdrawal that went back in, went into place in January of 2023. So this would lift that.

HOST: Essentially, if the Senate lifts the mining ban moratorium, what immediate economic changes could communities like Ely expect, both in job growth and in tourism?

KALLI HAWKINS: If the Senate ultimately approves to lift that mining ban, that action would, as I mentioned, kind of open up this 225,000 acres of public land to potential mining development. However, the immediate impacts or economic changes are going to be very limited in scale. On the immediate terms, mining projects typically require years of permitting, infrastructure development, environmental review. This obviously, it's kind of a mosaic of federal and state lands that this proposed mining project comprises right now. So it would have to go before the state for permitting process, and that could take quite some time. So this means that kind of the most visible economic boost or impacts or growth in terms of jobs, or changes, maybe even to tourism, on the flip side, would not be immediate or instantaneous. So yeah, the immediate impact, nothing immediate there will be, I would assume in the net in the coming years would be some changes to economic growth or changes among tourism.

HOST: So supporters argue that new mining projects could bring hundreds of jobs and boost critical mineral production. Based on your reporting, Kalli, how stable and long term would those economic benefits be, and who would benefit most?

KALLI HAWKINS: We don't know who exactly would benefit the most, and you know, as I mentioned, that Twin Metals would provide some potential, or they've at least, that it will create some job creation for Minnesotans in the immediate area, in the short term and long term. Twin Metals is owned by a not a US company. It's owned, a subsidiary of Antofagasta. It's a mining company out of Chile. So there are some uncertainties about the job creation that it would impose, but Twin Metals has told us in our reporting that it would create some jobs in the immediate future.

HOST: Opponents warned that sulfide mining could damage the watershed that feeds to Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Wilderness. What are the potential environmental consequences if pollution enters that system, and how could that ripple into local businesses and waters?

KALLI HAWKINS: Yeah, that's a big concern right now for a lot of the, a lot of environmentalists, a lot of outfitters and businesses up here on the Ely side, but then also on the Grand Marais side, kind of closer to the Gunflint Trail entrance by Grand Marais here. So the mining, once mining or acid mine drainage enters kind of the watershed area, it's difficult to remediate. Cleanup efforts are often long, expensive, never really restored to original conditions, and that watershed flows into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It also flows into Voyageurs National Park, Quetico Provincial Park there as well. So it could raise some impacts and environmental concerns, given that it's not going to be contained if something does happen to that immediate area of that mining. Some of the outfitters that we've talked to and some of the local businesses are concerned. You know, the Boundary Waters water is known to be the most pristine and clean throughout pretty much all of Minnesota, but the entire US, and a lot of people, you know, just dip their Nalgene and dip their water bottle right in the middle of a lake, and there are some serious concerns about the future and longevity of being able to do that and have safe, clean water out in the middle of the Boundary Waters.

HOST: Well, Kalli, thank you so much for all of the work that you've done on this project and on this subject. That's all the time we have for now. Thank you for joining us. We appreciate you.

KALLI HAWKINS: Yeah, sounds good. Thank you.

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HOST: We end today's program recognizing the work of the state schools. Education leaders honored eight schools for excellence in academic performance and closing achievement gaps. Schools were scored on overall academic excellence, test performance, and for narrowing gaps between student groups. Highest-achieving schools span the state, including Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan, Proctor, Browns Valley, Mankato, Eden Prairie, Elk River, Northfield, and South Washington County.

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HOST: This is all the time we have for today's program. If you missed any part of today's newscast, you can find this and past episodes at AMPERS. org, or listen to the podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening, and we'll be back next week with more stories and voices from the North Star State.

OUTRO: North Star Stories is produced by AMPERS, diverse radio for Minnesota's communities, with support from the McKnight Foundation and the State of Minnesota. Online at AMPERS.org.