DENVER — On Friday, a federal judge will hear arguments regarding a request to prevent immigration agents from making arrests at schools. This request is in response to a Trump administration policy, which has not yet been implemented.
Denver Public Schools is urging U.S. District Judge Daniel Domenico to issue an injunction against immigration enforcement in schools nationwide. This request is part of an ongoing lawsuit challenging the new policy.
The lawsuit asserts that the potential for regular immigration arrests in schools has caused a decline in student attendance. It also states that the district has been forced to allocate resources to address student and family anxieties stemming from the removal of long-standing restrictions on immigration enforcement near sensitive locations such as schools and churches.
“This includes offering mental health services to students, shifting administrator focus from academic matters to immigration concerns, and providing support to students who have missed school to help them catch up,” the school district’s lawyers stated in their request to halt the new policy.
The previous “sensitive locations” guidelines generally required officers to obtain approval before conducting enforcement actions at these locations, although exceptions were made for issues like national security. The policy modification, announced in January by the acting head of the Department of Homeland Security, which includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement, emphasized that field agents should use “common sense” and “discretion” when carrying out immigration enforcement activities without needing a supervisor’s authorization.
According to a court document filed by lawyers representing Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the head of ICE later issued a directive requiring supervisory approval for immigration arrests at sensitive locations like schools.
Such arrests have been infrequent. Lawyers for Denver schools cited ICE data indicating that between 2018 and 2020, only two immigration arrests occurred in schools, with an additional 18 arrests taking place near schools.
A filing submitted last week by the Council of the Great City Schools in support of Denver’s lawsuit stated that there have been no arrests at schools under the new policy as of last week.
The federal government argues that Denver schools have not demonstrated direct harm resulting from the policy change and therefore lack legal standing to pursue a lawsuit.
Last month, a federal judge in Maryland prohibited immigration agents from conducting enforcement activities in places of worship for Quakers and a few other religious groups after they filed a lawsuit challenging the directive. This order is limited to the religious groups involved in the lawsuit.
It remains uncertain when Domenico, a Trump appointee and former Colorado solicitor general, will issue a ruling.