Across the United States, immigrant communities are grappling with a fear that echoes the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, as intensified Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations drive families into isolation. In cities from Los Angeles to Minneapolis, workers are staying home, children are missing school, and parents are skipping medical appointments out of dread over potential raids. This surge in enforcement, which advocates describe as creating a 'second pandemic,' has disrupted daily life for thousands, particularly in vulnerable low-income neighborhoods.
The parallels to 2020 are stark, with entire families sheltering in place to avoid encounters with immigration authorities. In Los Angeles, car wash workers, many of whom are essential laborers, have been living in fear for nearly a year following repeated ICE raids. Flor Melendrez, executive director of the CLEAN Carwash Worker Center, a nonprofit focused on workers' rights, recounted how at least 100 car washes in the area have been targeted in recent months, some hit more than five times. 'Family members, they’re just asking them: stay home,' Melendrez said. 'It’s not safe out there.'
Melendrez described the trauma as akin to 'living a kidnapping scene,' with workers driven from their jobs and unable to provide for their families. This fear has extended to children's routines, with some parents keeping kids home from school to avoid risks during drop-off or pickup. A high-profile incident in Minnesota underscored these dangers: 5-year-old Liam Ramos was detained along with his father as they returned from preschool, spending nearly two weeks in immigration custody in Texas.
Educators report a return to remote learning options reminiscent of the pandemic era. In St. Paul, Minnesota, school districts began offering virtual classes in late January, and up to 50 percent of families in some schools opted for iPads over in-person attendance, according to Valora Unowsky, the district's senior executive academic officer. Similar programs have launched in Los Angeles and Charlotte, North Carolina. 'It’s impossible not to compare this to the pandemic,' Unowsky said. But unlike the widespread school closures of 2020 and 2021, when 'everybody was in the same situation,' today's disruptions disproportionately affect already vulnerable students—those from lower-income households or learning English as a second language.
Healthcare providers are witnessing similar patterns, with families forgoing routine checkups and emergency care. In Minneapolis, Dr. Bryan Fate, a pediatrician at Children’s Minnesota health system, noted an 'eerie calm' in his waiting room as parents weigh their children's health against family safety. 'We’ve certainly seen infections that fester and get worse at home,' Fate said. Parents face 'a terrible decision' in balancing medical needs with the risk of ICE encounters.
Virtual appointments have become a lifeline, but they fall short for many cases requiring physical exams. Children with disabilities or chronic conditions are hit hardest, missing specialist visits essential for everything from breathing support to wheelchair fittings. Fate highlighted how even simple tasks like picking up medication at a pharmacy now carry risks for some families. Pregnant women, too, are altering plans: prenatal visits are being skipped, and more are requesting home births despite underlying health issues that make them unsafe.
When patients do seek hospital care for childbirth, the experience is overshadowed by anxiety. 'This new life is going to need medical care that you’re really terrified to have to go seek,' Fate observed. The pervasive confusion mirrors early COVID uncertainties, with misinformation from immigration officials blurring lines between fact and rumor. 'There was so much in the news... that it made it very blurry to understand what was real and what was not,' Melendrez said. Now, masked ICE officers conducting sudden raids have reignited that sense of unpredictability.
The long-term effects on mental health and development are already emerging. Fate reported increased anxiety symptoms among young patients, including skin picking, hair pulling, and bed-wetting. For neurodivergent children, the loss of school-based therapies is undoing progress. 'We learned from the pandemic how important it is to go to school, how important it is to have structure and routine and see faces and be with people,' Fate said. To see these issues resurface 'without a virus causing it, but the external act of the government—it’s just a feeling of helplessness.'
Background on the ICE surge traces back to policy shifts under the current administration, emphasizing interior enforcement after a focus on border security. While exact numbers of raids nationwide remain fluid, local reports indicate a concentration in urban areas with large immigrant populations. In Los Angeles alone, the repeated targeting of car washes has idled workers who were on the front lines during the actual COVID pandemic, now facing self-inflicted economic hardship.
Community support networks, forged during the height of COVID, are adapting to this new crisis. In Chicago, Nourishing Hope, which once distributed groceries from Wrigley Field in 2020, has expanded home delivery services targeted at ICE-affected families. CEO Mitzi Baum noted the addition of remote mental health services to address the isolation. 'In the early months of COVID, the Chicago food pantry Nourishing Hope distributed groceries to hungry families out of Wrigley Field,' Baum said, highlighting how those pandemic-era innovations are being repurposed.
In St. Paul, schools are stepping up with counselor outreach for remote learners and deliveries of shelf-stable food boxes to replace school meals. Parent-teacher organizations are also mobilizing to assist families. Unowsky emphasized the district's efforts but acknowledged limitations: 'A lot of what families in St. Paul need are things that really nobody can provide.' The hope remains for a return to normalcy, allowing children back in classrooms.
Recent developments offer a glimmer of relief in some areas. Earlier this month, White House Border Czar Tom Homan announced a drawdown of immigration forces in Minnesota, potentially easing immediate pressures. However, advocates like Melendrez express skepticism, fearing a sustained presence and the possibility of raids spreading to other cities. Immigrant communities nationwide continue to brace, much like Americans tracked COVID surges in 2020 and 2021, anxious about becoming the next hotspot.
This 'ICE pandemic,' as described by observers, underscores the unequal burdens on essential workers and families already strained by prior crises. While the nation grapples with healing from COVID's learning losses and psychological toll, a subset of the population faces renewed isolation. Doctors and educators, drawing from pandemic experience, warn of compounding damage if the enforcement pace doesn't slow. As one advocate put it, 'We go back to the same thing of living in fear.' For now, communities are holding on, supported by resilient networks, while awaiting clearer signals on federal policy shifts.
The broader implications extend to public health and education equity. Reports from clinics nationwide indicate rising untreated conditions among immigrant children, potentially straining healthcare systems long-term. Schools, meanwhile, risk widening achievement gaps for English learners isolated at home. Officials have not released comprehensive data on detentions tied to these operations, but anecdotal evidence from affected areas paints a picture of widespread disruption.
Looking ahead, the trajectory depends on evolving enforcement strategies. Homan's announcement in Minnesota could signal a pivot, but without nationwide de-escalation, the echoes of 2020 may persist. Families, much like during the height of the virus, yearn for stability. 'We’re just looking forward to when we can bring our kids back,' Unowsky said, capturing a sentiment shared by many in this ongoing ordeal.