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The Trump administration says a choose ought to reject Denver Public Faculties’ try to dam immigration enforcement actions at faculties as a result of the district can’t present that it’s occurred anyplace or that the prospect of enforcement has brought about ample hurt.
That’s in accordance with a movement filed by attorneys for the U.S. Division of Homeland Safety. Denver Public Faculties sued the federal division on Feb. 12 in an try and void a Trump administration coverage that clears the way in which for immigration enforcement to happen at “delicate areas,” together with faculties, baby care facilities, church buildings, and hospitals.
Denver Public Faculties argued that pupil attendance had “decreased noticeably” since the Trump administration rescinded a decades-old coverage final month that stated immigration enforcement ought to solely happen at delicate areas if there may be speedy hazard to the general public.
The college district additionally argued that it had been “pressured to divert sources from its instructional mission to arrange for immigration arrests on DPS college grounds.”
The college district filed the lawsuit every week after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement carried out raids at house complexes in Denver and Aurora on Feb. 5. In authorized filings, district officers described terrified college students and fogeys, anguished academics, and diverted college buses.
In its response Friday, the U.S. Division of Homeland Safety stated there have been no raids at faculties in Denver or elsewhere for the reason that coverage was rescinded. The division argued that the drops in Denver’s pupil attendance weren’t brought on by the altering steerage.
“Somewhat, the proof exhibits that any drop is the results of fears amongst college students and fogeys, not any precise enforcement actions by DHS at faculties, and will relate to false reviews of immigration enforcement at faculties or enforcement actions that didn’t happen on college grounds or at bus stops,” the division’s movement says.
The division additionally argued that Denver Public Faculties leaders misunderstood the earlier coverage about delicate areas. That coverage, variations of which date again to 1993, “didn’t bar immigration enforcement actions at faculties,” the movement says. Somewhat, it stated such actions have been permitted “both with prior higher-level approval or below exigent circumstances.” The earlier coverage was final up to date in 2021 below then-President Joe Biden.
The brand new steerage, issued quickly after President Donald Trump took workplace in January, instructs ICE brokers to make use of discretion “and a wholesome dose of widespread sense.”
“DPS has not proven that the 2021 Steering would have prohibited the DHS enforcement motion taken on February 5, 2025, which was not at a college or bus cease,” the division’s movement stated, referring to the raids in Denver and Aurora.
“DPS’s argument that it’s going to face hurt from immigration enforcement provided that DHS operates below the 2025 Steering is thus too speculative to point out irreparable hurt,” it stated.
The division argued that barring immigration enforcement actions at or close to Denver Public Faculties’ 207 faculties or its bus stops “might considerably restrict immigration enforcement.”
“A lot of Denver is shut to a faculty,” the movement says.
The division additionally challenged Denver Public Faculties’ argument that the Trump administration coverage, issued in a pair of January memos from the then-acting administrators of the Division of Homeland Safety and ICE, had not been publicly launched and amounted to “a remaining company motion that occurred fully behind closed doorways.”
The division described the memos as “merely an inner advisement” to immigration enforcement brokers and stated one of many memos is now posted on ICE’s web site. The web site exhibits that the Jan. 31 memo was posted on Feb. 18, after the Denver district filed its lawsuit.
In response to the same lawsuit from a number of spiritual organizations, a federal choose in Maryland on Monday briefly blocked the Trump administration’s coverage with regard to ICE enforcement at church buildings and different homes of worship. However the ruling doesn’t prolong to varsities.
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.
