A call from statewide education leaders Friday for federal agents to leave Minnesota.
This comes days after a clash between ICE agents physically confronting people outside Minneapolis Roosevelt High School, and after Renee Good was killed by an agent in south Minneapolis on Wednesday.
Education Minnesota president Monica Byron says school administrators must know what to do if federal agents try to get inside a school building.
"We need to make sure that what ICE is doing in these federal actions are lawful," Byron explains. "So there are sites that will make sure to have a protocol, like go to the district office, have staff come into those sites if ICE does try to get through those doors."
Byron says administrators can't deny legal access to anyone, however.
"There are things that we can do that are to protect our students, but we also understand that if ICE comes with a federal warrant, we will honor that as best we can," she adds. "And make sure our students and our families are safe."
Education leaders from Minneapolis, St. Cloud and Bloomington called for ICE to leave Minnesota to keep schools safe on Friday morning.
Later Friday morning, a large presence of parents and their school children joined in another call for federal agents to leave Minnesota.
More than 1,000 people stood in ankle-deep snow and began the demonstration on a solemn note. Amanda Otero is co-executive director of TakeAction Minnesota, and organizing neighbors to help keep schools safe.
"Today I am grateful we're gathering and can be part of Governor Walz's declaration of a Day of Unity," said Otero. "I will now invite us to take a minute of silence to honor the life of Renee Good."
Many held up signs calling for ICE to leave Minnesota, and brought their school children to the demonstration.
Meanwhile, more Twin Cities schools are altering their class schedule for Friday, citing cautionary reasons following increased ICE activity in the area.
In Fridley, school administrators say all classes are canceled Friday, and after-school activities are called off. In an email to parents, Fridley officials say many people in their community are scared and experiencing very real trauma.
They also are reporting a spike in students absences and staff availability.
In Columbia Heights, Friday has been declared a "Flex Learning Day," with students asked to use their home devices for school work.
There's also no class Friday for Harvest Best Academy and Minnesota Transitions Charter School. Minneapolis schools haven't had class since Wednesday, and school officials in that district are offering parents the option for remote learning for up to a month.
That was the day that ICE agents gathered at Roosevelt High school on the south side of the city and began tackling people, handcuffing staff members, and released chemical weapons on bystanders.
Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, a former Navy SEAL and graduate of Roosevelt High School, spoke outside of the school on Thursday blasting ICE activity and President Donald Trump's administration.
“We’re a 3rd world country now. I know. I’ve been to them," said an obviously angry Ventura. "I spent 17 months in southeast Asia while the draft dodger was playing golf. That’s what happens in a dictatorship. In comes the military. That’s what’s happening here.”
Ventura also added the U.S. now has "leadership that has destroyed the Constitution."
Dr. Abraham is a professor of thermal sciences at the University of St. Thomas, and has two adopted children of color that go to Roosevelt. He told WCCO's Adam Carter that his kids are going in to school because, as he describes them, they are safe.
"But, you know, we'll send them with their birth certificate and their passport and all that stuff in their backpack to make them feel more comfortable," Abraham explains. "But there's a lot of kids who aren't safe, and so it is up to us who live safely in the society to really stand up and be present. So we really were deliberating on whether to let our kids go to school, but then the answer was, once you see the video footage outside of Roosevelt, you realize how crazy it got and how out of control it really became."