COLUMBIA HEIGHTS — Operation Metro Surge, a Minneapolis immigration crackdown that concluded in February 2026, resulted in more than 4,000 arrests and multiple shootings, two of which were fatal. At least four elementary school students from Valley View Elementary in Columbia Heights were detained and transferred to a family detention center in Dilley, Texas.

Among those detained was preschooler Liam Conejo Ramos, who was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after returning home from school wearing a Spiderman backpack and a bright blue hat with bunny ears. Columbia Heights Public Schools provided virtual learning for students who remained at home, though online classes ended after spring break.

Staff at Valley View Elementary identified two fifth-graders and a second-grader who had been held at the Dilley facility, where court documents allege children have lacked adequate food and medical care. The school introduced a therapy dog named Sage, a goldendoodle, to help students cope with trauma. Social worker Nicole Herje led group therapy sessions with Sage for children who had been detained. "What we know about trauma is that our bodies hold on to the fear," Herje said. She also read from the children’s book "The Color Monster": "When you’re happy, you laugh and jump and dance and play, and you want to share that feeling with everyone."

Family physician Robyn Tabibi treated a 3-year-old who lost several relatives to deportation and had to relocate with his mother to evade targeting. "He gradually stopped eating, became listless, refused to play anymore. He’s in this new space, and he is so traumatized," Tabibi said. Rebecca Parlakian, senior director of programs at Zero to Three, explained, "When a child is experiencing sustained and consistent traumatic experiences where they have lost the sense of basic safety, we see that the brain reorganizes itself for survival, which actually translates to structural anatomical changes in the brain."

Renee Good, a U.S. citizen, was fatally shot by an ICE officer after dropping off her son at elementary school.