Building Back
ICE is gone but trauma remains | 1 min read
ICE activity has taken a lot from Minnesotans. While they begin to build back, Minnesotans are assessing the damage.
A short breakdown:
Lost wages: $47m (City of Mpls) - $107m (North Star Research) in the Twin Cities
Lost revenue: $81m (City of Mpls)
School Absentism: In Wilmar, almost 1/4 of the student population was absent during Operation Metro Surge
There are many ways to measure the impact, and as time goes on, these statistics will only further solidify.
Rebuilding
In Minneapolis, several non-profit or foundation funds have popped up to support small businesses. Cities across the metro have begun funding rental assistance programs to help individuals who couldn’t make rent. Schools are in front of the legislature to ask for help with the funding formula, which penalizes school districts with increase absentism.
The legislature doesn’t seem eager to help the schools or businesses.
Early in the session, Speaker Lisa Demuth made a remark that many businesses didn’t need to close on strike days but instead chose to. The logic goes: many of the impacted businesses are metro-based, so why send funds to just the metro?
The lack of hard data surrounding state-wide impact to businesses, employees, and students has made the conversation anecdotal at best and is preventing relief from reaching those in need.
Daily Debrief
Businesses and activists don’t like this response from the legislature.
