❓WHAT HAPPENED: A Minnesota middle school told eighth graders that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) uses “tricky and violent tactics,” according to instructional materials shared by a parent and published by Defending Education.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Hermantown Middle School, ICE, Defending Education, Hermantown Community Schools superintendent Wayne Whitwam, and school students.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Hermantown Middle School in northern Minnesota; controversy surfaced in 2026.
💬KEY QUOTE: “It’s bad enough that this biased lesson is replete with falsehoods—but [for] the school principal to defend such garbage truly adds insult to injury.” – Nicole Neily, founder of Defending Education.
🎯IMPACT: The incident has sparked debate about political propaganda in classrooms and the role of educators in presenting balanced perspectives.
A middle school in Hermantown, Minnesota, is facing criticism after an eighth-grade geography lesson pushed allegations of misconduct against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Materials obtained by a parent and published by Defending Education show a PowerPoint presentation asking students, “In what ways do people think the ICE agents have ‘gone too far?’” Under a slide labeled “tricky & violent tactics,” examples included incomplete paperwork, agents wearing masks, and deaths in custody. Other slides referenced arrests, detention conditions, and videos about ICE operations, some offered for extra credit.
District leaders insisted the lesson aligns with state geography standards that require students to explore current events and political and social systems shaping different regions. Nicole Neily, founder of Defending Education, sharply criticized the lesson, calling it biased and inaccurate. “It’s bad enough that this biased lesson is replete with falsehoods—but [for] the school principal to defend such garbage truly adds insult to injury,” she said.
The controversy comes amid heightened attention to ICE operations in Minnesota. The state has seen large-scale arrests of migrants accused or convicted of serious crimes, including homicide, sexual offenses, and drug trafficking, although operations are being wound down following violent protests over the shooting deaths of two anti-ICE activists.
Supporters of ICE have highlighted the agency’s recovery of thousands of missing migrant children during its enforcement surge in Minnesota.
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