I’m an elementary school principal. Students live in fear of ICE

There is snow on the ground, but for some Chicago families, this is a moment of unfreezing. ICE is still out there, but Commander Gregory Bovino and his strike force have moved on. After months, Operation Midway Blitz has quieted.

In places like the elementary school where I am principal, some parents who were hiding are poking their heads out doors. Children holding their breath since September are beginning to exhale.

But the danger isn’t over; it’s just somewhere else. LA, Washington DC, Chicago. Then Charlotte, New Orleans Minneapolis.

News stations call them “stings” and “sweeps” and “crackdowns” – words that suggest a line between those in and out of focus: targets and civilians, innocent and guilty.

But in one Chicago school, a third grade boy stopped eating because he was afraid to type in his lunch code, worried ICE would somehow see it and know where he was, or his family.

In another, agents entered a schoolyard in the middle of the day and took a landscaper while children were inside learning.

The Department of Homeland Security says these operations target “

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