“We can address harm without causing harm”: An Open Letter

by Celeste Finn, Director of Big Wonder Child Care

Last Tuesday, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI, the investigative arm of ICE) conducted raids of child care centers and adult daycares alongside the FBI. These federal agencies did this in collaboration with the MN Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF). I believe DCYF’s collaboration with ICE to ram down the doors of child care centers is a misuse of funds and power. The raided child care centers were Somali-owned businesses. We cannot condone acts of racial violence and a lack of due process; there are established avenues for fraud prevention, and what we witnessed last week was not one of them. 

Childcare center providers are asking folks to sign this open letter to DCYF stating that this behavior is unacceptable:

To the Leadership of the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families,

We write this letter in deep concern over reports of your department’s involvement in enforcement actions on April 28th, 2026, that were excessive, highly public, and unnecessary in child care environments. Coming on the heels of Operation Metro surge, these militarized actions have frightened families, traumatized childcare providers, and undermined public trust in the very institution charged with protecting children and supporting communities.

These actions cause lasting emotional harm to children, families, and staff. There is no excuse for federal agents to put children in physically unsafe and emotionally distressing situations. We want armed, aggressive federal agents out of childcare programs, our communities, and our state, and we trusted the department wanted the same. 

The department has established lawful and child-centered processes for addressing suspected childcare fraud. But these raids are ultimately not about fraud. They are about creating a political spectacle for the federal administration and those politicians who wish to sow division for political gain. If they wanted to combat fraud, they would stop voting down every anti-fraud measure put before them. We are deeply disappointed that the department we worked so hard to create is assisting in this spectacle of cruelty and division.

The childcare centers and adult daycare centers raided do very different work with very different funding streams. What they do have in common, however, is that they are Somali-run.. If enforcement decisions were influenced by race, ethnicity, language, neighborhood, or cultural background, then this is not simply poor policy—it is discrimination and a civil rights violation. Minnesota families deserve equal treatment under the law and a regulatory system grounded in fairness, not prejudice.

The people of Minnesota deserve answers. We call on your department to immediately:

1. Commission an independent investigation into allegations of racial profiling and discriminatory enforcement practices toward childcare programs at the state and federal levels.
2. Disclose the chain of command and approvals that permitted the BCA to enter childcare programs in January 2026 to conduct CCAP audits and the use of battering rams in April 2026. Explain how media coverage or federal fraud pressure influenced enforcement timing, tactics, or scope.
3. Implement binding reforms that prohibit the use of militarized tactics at childcare facilities except in the most extraordinary circumstances of imminent danger and establish meaningful community oversight with participation from providers, parents, and civil rights advocates.

Minnesotans showed up for one another when federal ICE agents harassed and terrorized our communities, and DCYF sent the BCA illegally to child care centers. Childcare providers, teachers, and parents cared for their communities. We were harassed and received no guidance or help from DCYF. We protected each other as you failed to protect us.

Families entrust childcare centers with their children because they are meant to be safe, nurturing spaces. Agencies entrusted with regulating those spaces should operate with humility, fairness, and accountability. We can address harm without causing harm. 

The department owes Minnesotans transparency, accountability, and meaningful change. We hope accountability and collaboration will be the foundation of a more constructive partnership going forward. 

With enough signatures, we will secure a meeting with DCYF to prevent racial profiling and violence by state agencies. Click here to sign your name to this letter.