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By Melanie Asmar/Chalkbeat
Denver Public Schools has agreed to dismiss a lawsuit it filed over the Trump administration’s abolishment of a decades-old federal policy that treated schools as sensitive locations for the purposes of immigration enforcement.
Although DPS did not win the lawsuit, the district in a statement Tuesday declared “a victory” in the case, because a federal judge found that there was little practical difference between the previous policy that treated schools as protected places and the Trump administration’s changes.
But DPS added that it would sue again “should circumstances change.”
“Just as DPS was the first school district in the nation to challenge this administration’s policies in federal court, DPS will be the first school district in the country to return to court should there be any additional federal overreach,” the statement said.
The decision to drop the lawsuit comes two months after U.S. District Court Judge Daniel D. Domenico rejected DPS’ request for a preliminary injunction that would have voided the Trump administration’s guidance in favor of the previous iteration while the lawsuit continued.
The previous iteration, last updated in 2021 under former President Biden, said immigration enforcement should only occur at sensitive locations such as schools, child care centers, hospitals, and churches if there was an immediate danger to the public.
The Trump administration’s guidance, issued in January, instructed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to use discretion and “common sense.”
DPS sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security over the new guidance in February, a week after high-profile immigration raids at apartment complexes in Denver and Aurora caused fear among Denver students and drops in school attendance.
DPS argued that the current guidance made it hard to educate “students who are refraining from attending DPS schools for fear of immigration enforcement actions occurring” at schools. The district also argued that it was forced to divert resources to prepare for such arrests.
Attorneys for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security responded by arguing that there had been no immigration raids at schools in Denver or elsewhere, and that drops in attendance were caused by fear and false reports of ICE raids, not the changing guidance.
Domenico ruled in March that it was an “overstatement” to say that the guidance eliminated all protections for schools. He said there hadn’t been “a single instance” of the Trump administration’s guidance “resulting in someone doing something that wouldn’t have happened under the prior policy.”
The Biden administration’s policy allowed immigration enforcement at schools “either with prior higher-level approval or under exigent circumstances.”
In its statement Tuesday, DPS said its lawsuit caused the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to be more transparent about its new guidance and admit that the policy hadn’t fundamentally changed, which DPS said was “not previously known.”
The Denver district also pledged to “continue to monitor developments regarding immigration enforcement in sensitive areas.”
“In DPS, we strive to provide safe and welcoming environments for ALL of our students,” the district said. “Those words are not hollow, but rather, carefully selected. Students cannot learn unless they feel safe and welcome in our schools. We owe that to them.”
DPS said it was represented pro bono in the case and did not spend any district money on it.
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at [email protected].
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
