The federal government filed a response Friday to a motion made by Colorado’s largest school district to temporarily stop a new immigration enforcement policy.
The Department of Homeland Security argued Denver Public Schools hasn’t proven that the government’s action has caused injury or that the 90,000-student district would suffer irreparable harm if a temporary restraining order isn’t granted. It also argued that the federal court doesn’t have the authority to hear the case. It said that what the Denver district seeks would interfere with the immigration enforcement.
Last week DPS filed a lawsuit in federal court in Denver that seeks to undo the Trump administration’s decision to allow immigration enforcement in “sensitive locations” such as schools, hospitals and churches. In the interim, the district is asking for a temporary restraining order to prevent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from enforcing immigration enforcement on school grounds.
The judge has not yet made a decision.
DPS’s lawsuit argued that the district couldn’t fulfill its mission of providing “education and life services” to students who don’t go to school because they are afraid of immigration enforcement on school grounds. It further argued that the district has had to divert resources from teaching and learning to prepare for immigration arrests at schools.
Early February brought uncertainty and fear for many students, families and staff in the Aurora and Denver school districts after ICE raids at apartment complexes in the metro area. The district argued that attendance had dropped “noticeably” because students were afraid that immigration enforcement would take place on school grounds. Some teachers reported that fears of a raid kept some children home.
The 46-page response argues that evidence doesn’t show that the Department of Homeland Security directly caused a drop in attendance.
“Rather, the evidence shows that any drop is the result of fears among students and parents, not any actual enforcement actions by DHS at schools, and may relate to false reports of immigration enforcement at schools or enforcement actions that did not take place on school grounds or at bus stops."
It said DPS has not provided enough evidence to merit a preliminary injunction. It also argues that because DPS didn’t seek “class certification” for the lawsuit to proceed as a class action, “The Court should deny DPS’s request for a nationwide injunction, as DPS has not shown that one is needed to protect DPS.”
Previously: Denver Public Schools sues feds to stop immigration enforcement at schools, ‘sensitive locations’
On Jan. 21, the Trump administration rescinded guidelines that prevented Immigration and Customs Enforcement from carrying out immigration enforcement in “sensitive locations.” That policy had been in place for more than 30 years, according to the DPS lawsuit.
The Department of Homeland Security however, argues that the 2021 policy did not “categorically prohibit” immigration enforcement actions at schools.
Finally, the Department of Homeland Security argued that the executive branch has the discretion to decide how to enforce laws, citing a case where the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states lacked standing to challenge federal immigration policies.
The Trump administration has said it will focus on detaining and deporting immigrants in the country illegally who commit violent acts, but the Feb. 5 raids saw agents knocking on random apartment doors asking residents if they knew where any “undocumented” immigrants were.
