New Jersey police officer killed and a second officer wounded in a
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[March 08, 2025]
By COLLEEN SLEVIN
DENVER (AP) — Immigration authorities don't need to revert to a
Biden-era policy limiting arrests at schools after officials in Denver
challenged new policies from the Trump administration, a federal judge
ruled Friday.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Domenico said Denver Public Schools failed to
prove that a drop in attendance was due to the Trump administration's
new policy. It wasn’t clear how much of the fear surrounding possible
enforcement actions in schools was really due to the new rules as
opposed to broader concerns of increased immigration actions, he said.
The new policy has not yet been acted upon, according to a group
representing large urban school districts across the U.S.
Besides a drop in attendance, Denver Public Schools says it has had to
divert resources to respond to fear among students and families over the
lifting of longtime rules restricting immigration enforcement near
schools, churches and other sensitive locations.
“This includes providing mental health support to students, diverting
administrator attention from academics to immigration issues, and
assisting students who miss school to catch up,” lawyers for the school
district said in their request to block the new rules.
The ruling came just days after Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and the
Democratic leaders of other cities were in Washington to answer
questions from Republican members of Congress about their their
so-called sanctuary city policies that they see as undermining President
Donald Trump’s immigration and mass deportation efforts. The lawsuit was
brought by the school district, not the city.
Under the previous “sensitive locations” guidance issued in 2021,
officers were generally required to get approval for any enforcement
operations at those locations, although exceptions were allowed for
matters like national security. The change announced in January by the
acting leader of the Department of Homeland Security, which includes
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, scrapped that guidance and
emphasized that field agents should use “common sense” and “discretion”
to conduct immigration enforcement operations.
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An American flag hangs in a classroom as students work on laptops,
Aug. 25, 2020, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
However, Domenico noted that the head of ICE later issued a
directive for its officers that immigration arrests at sensitive
places like schools still had to be approved by supervisors. The
fear over the new rules, as well as the belief that the old rules
provided protection to schools, both seem to be “overstated",
Domenico said.
Domenico, a Trump appointee and Colorado's former solicitor general,
denied a request that he grant a nationwide preliminary injunction
forcing immigration officials to revert to the 2021 guidance.
Denver Public Schools issued a statement expressing disappointment
in his ruling, while asserting that its lawsuit was successful in
making public details of the Trump administration rules.
Arrests at schools have been rare. According to data from ICE cited
by lawyers for Denver schools, there were only two immigration
arrests made in schools between 2018 and 2020 along with 18 arrests
near schools.
There have not been any arrests at schools under the new policy as
of last week, according to a filing submitted by the Council of the
Great City Schools in support of Denver’s lawsuit.
Last month, a federal judge in Maryland blocked immigration agents
from conducting enforcement operations in houses of worship for
Quakers and a handful of other religious groups after they filed a
lawsuit challenging the directive. The order does not apply to any
religious groups beyond the ones who brought the lawsuit.
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