Minnesota teacher at special education school held by ICE for nearly 12 hours

A 25-year-old teacher at a special education school in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, was taken into ICE custody early Monday morning in the school parking lot and was held for nearly 12 hours at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility at Fort Snelling, her mother told the Pioneer Press.

After an apparent collision with a federal vehicle, Christina Rank was taken into custody in the parking lot of the Concord Education Center while it was still dark, according to her mother, Sarah Hunkele.

Nearly 12 hours later, close to 7 p.m., Christina Rank was released pending an investigation, Hunkele said.

Little contact

Hunkele said the lack of information and waiting to hear about her daughter had been “terrible.”

“You don’t know where she is going, where she is at, what is happening. There is no communication.”

U.S. Rep. Angie Craig’s office was working to learn more information and called the detention “shocking.”

“I’m incredibly concerned about today’s incident in Inver Grove Heights and will be pushing for answers,” Craig said in a Monday night statement. “Schools should be safe places for our teachers to teach and students to learn. That’s why I’ve introduced legislation in Congress to keep ICE out of sensitive locations, like schools, daycares and churches.”

During a morning phone call after her detention, Rank told her mother that she didn’t know why she was being held, Hunkele said. Rank told...