Schools have always been off limits. For decades, a bipartisan consensus held that certain places — schools, churches, hospitals — deserved special protection from immigration enforcement. That consensus existed because most Americans agreed: whatever your views on immigration, children deserve to feel safe walking through a school door.

That protection was quietly stripped away. The Trump administration rescinded longstanding restrictions that kept Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) out of schools and school bus stops except in rare circumstances. The consequences have been devastating and immediate.

In Fridley, Minnesota, attendance dropped by nearly a third. In St. Paul, over 9,000 students — more than a quarter of the district — were absent in a single week. Minneapolis saw close to 30% of students stay home. Families stopped sending their children to school altogether. Some enrolled in other districts. Others left the country. Some are now in detention centers. According to Fridley Superintendent Brenda Lewis, the change "deeply impacted" attendance because families did not feel safe.

These are children. They did nothing wrong. They deserve a classroom, not a crisis.

Two Minnesota school districts — Fridley and Duluth — and the state's teachers union are now in federal court asking a judge to restore the previous protections. They are fighting for something that should never have needed fighting for: the idea that a school is a safe place.

We are calling on the Department of Homeland Security to immediately restore sensitive location protections for schools and school bus stops nationwide. Children cannot learn when they are afraid. Teachers cannot teach when their students do not show up. And no enforcement priority is worth turning a school into a place of fear.

Restore the protections. Let kids learn.