Federal judge turns down lawsuit by Denver Public Schools that was trying to keep ICE away from campuses

A federal judge in Denver has turned down a lawsuit by Denver Public Schools trying to keep immigration enforcement away from school campuses.  

A day after taking office, the Trump administration rescinded a Biden policy that barred agents from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement from conducting actions at or near schools. DPS officials hoped to seek an injunction to restore the policy, citing 30 years of practice, arguing that DPS has seen a decline in attendance since the rescission of the policy in January.

DPS lawyers argued that the previous administration's policy regarding protected spaces from immigration enforcement had clear guardrails that gave them the ability to assure students, parents and faculty that routine immigration sweeps would not happen. However, the recent change in policy took away those guardrails and has caused them harm. Now students are afraid to come to school, parents are afraid to send them, and the district is having to divert resources to address attendance problems.

The Department of Homeland Security argued in court Friday that DPS failed to prove it had suffered injury from the change in policy and that families have fears of enforcement actions, because the administration has said it would increase enforcement in the future- not as a result of this policy change.  

The plaintiffs and the defendants also said that the policy is not clear on how close immigration enforcement can happen near a school. Homeland Security argued that with 200 schools in Denver, restricting enforcement actions near schools would limit the agency's ability to enforce immigration laws.

The two sides and the court talked at length about the February 5th ICE raid at the Cedar Run apartments in Denver, located near several schools. Judge Domenico said that he was having trouble discerning if any ruling by him would enjoin or prohibit such an action from taking place.  

Judge Daniel Domenico said that he had "extreme reluctance to issue a nationwide injunction" limiting immigration enforcement given a change in policy intended to guide immigration officers in doing their jobs. He said that federal courts have to be "careful with interfering in internal policy making." 

DPS turned down our request for an interview but did provide this statement:

While we are disappointed in the judge's ruling, it is important to note that he acknowledged the real damages public schools have suffered. He also acknowledged that there are no fundamental differences between the 2021 and 2025 policy, which had not been known prior to our court filing. DPS was successful in forcing the government to release the new 2025 guidance that had previously been kept from the public.