Did ICE storm schools and daycares recently?
Executive summary
Multiple credible local and national outlets report that Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other DHS agents have conducted enforcement operations in the Twin Cities region in January 2026 that brought agents onto or very near school property and that included visits to daycare facilities, detentions of staff and parents, and disruptions to classes and transportation [1] [2] [3] [4]. Federal officials have framed the sweeps as law‑enforcement actions targeting suspected fraud and criminality, while local leaders, educators and advocacy groups say the operations have explicitly or effectively targeted sensitive places and traumatized children and communities [5] [6] [7].
1. What happened on the ground: raids, school‑ground presence, and daycare visits
Reporting documents concrete incidents in which federal agents entered or operated on school property and in adjacent neighborhoods: agents came onto Roosevelt High School grounds during a chaotic day that included a deadly shooting by a DHS agent and witnesses reported a staff member detained there [1] [2], two contracted student transportation vans were pulled over by ICE according to Saint Paul Public Schools [3], and parents and school districts adjusted pickup procedures and canceled classes in response to raids and nearby arrests [8] [2].
2. Daycare visits and staff arrests: corroboration and dispute
Several outlets and elected officials report ICE visiting daycare sites and arresting childcare staff; St. Paul councilmember Molly Coleman said agents showed up at a Spanish‑immersion daycare and that a teacher was arrested at another location [4], while DHS messaging framed recent actions as part of investigations into alleged fraud at daycares and other facilities [5]. Local officials and school leaders, however, say notifications from daycares and emails to parents confirm staff detentions and that the operations targeted “sensitive locations” including daycares [6] [3].
3. Scale and tactics: claims, context and limits of verification
Advocacy outlets report very large numbers of federal agents in the region — for example, Invisible Children states “2,000–3,000 federal agents” are operating in Minneapolis — a figure not independently corroborated in the cited mainstream coverage and therefore one that must be treated as a source claim rather than established fact [7]. What is verifiable across the reporting is a surge of armed DHS personnel conducting coordinated enforcement actions under an operation described in local government filings as “Operation Metro Surge,” with knock‑and‑announce, vehicle stops, and targeted arrests that have spilled into public spaces including those adjacent to schools [6] [5].
4. Official justification, legal changes, and the political frame
The federal narrative released on social platforms and in statements frames the actions as necessary to “identify, arrest, and remove” individuals involved in fraud and criminal activity at daycares and other sites, and follows a policy environment where prior guidance treating schools as “protected areas” has been rolled back under the new administration [5] [9]. Local governments and the Minnesota attorney general have pushed back, filing suit and accusing DHS of constitutional overreach and of targeting “sensitive locations,” while education unions and advocacy groups emphasize the educational and psychological harms to students [6] [10] [11].
5. Human impact, responses and the evidentiary picture
Schools reported heightened absenteeism, canceled classes and students frightened by agents’ presence; student journalists, school boards and teachers described detained parents and a community in fear, and schools instituted virtual learning or increased security in response [1] [8] [2]. At the same time, DHS denies that students were targeted and characterizes its work as enforcement of immigration and fraud laws — an alternative frame that matters for legal arguments and public perception [4] [5]. Reporting shows clear disruption and documented detentions at or near schools and daycares, though precise nationwide scope, exact agent counts, or a full inventory of every site affected are not established across these sources [7] [3].
Conclusion
The best reading of the reporting is that ICE and DHS agents have recently conducted enforcement operations in the Twin Cities that placed agents on school grounds and at daycare sites, resulted in detentions of staff and parents, and disrupted schooling and childcare; federal officials assert the actions were lawful enforcement targeting fraud and criminal actors, while local leaders, educators and advocates say those operations amounted to storming sensitive locations and have caused trauma and legal pushback [1] [2] [4] [6]. Some claims about scale appear only in advocacy reporting and lack independent corroboration, so they should be treated as contested assertions rather than settled fact [7].