Minnesota families forced to have tough conversations with children amid Operation Metro Surge
Every parent will tell you, kids see everything, they hear everything and so there's no doubt little eyes and hearts are seeing and feeling the tension, especially of the last few weeks.
"(It's) important to be honest about what's happening so they can hear it from us first, at least, if we can," Bryan Hinck said.
WCCO met the Hinck family at the streetside memorial for Renee Good — one of many local families confronting the reality of life and death on the city's streets right now.
Lucy Hinck seemed on the verge of tears. At 11 years old, she wonders if more people will be hurt or taken by federal agents.
"What they're doing is not right; they should not be here at all," she said.
Mom Elizabeth's grade school child is already missing friends.
"Their class went from 25 at Thanksgiving break to five right now," Elizabeth said.
Elizabeth is part of a volunteer group now helping families already in hiding or at risk. She brings along her own child. If they have to see the loss, she wants them to see the response, too.
"Making sure they understand and have empathy for the things they don't understand and don't see," Elizabeth said.
All of it is so heavy, most especially for children in families at direct risk of being targeted by federal agents.
"On the day Alex Pretti was killed, they came and took our neighbors," Kao Kalia Yang said.
When that happened, Yang, who is a naturalized citizen, had a conversation with her three young children that she never imagined having.
"I tell them if they take you with me, we're gonna try to stay together as long as we can and if they don't, this is what you have to do," Yang said.
After coming to the U.S. when she was 7, Yang now wonders if this will be her forever home. As scary as that is, she wants her children to know it.
"I'm not afraid to stare at the world and see it for the way it is, I'm not afraid to face its truth. I don't want my children to be either," Yang said.
