Denver Public Schools filed a lawsuit on Wednesday seeking an emergency temporary restraining order against the Department of Homeland Security over a recent policy change allowing arrests at sensitive locations, such as schools, hospitals, and churches.
The directive was announced last month, urging federal agents to instead use "common sense" in their enforcement actions.
“This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens—including murders and rapists—who have illegally come into our country,” a DHS spokesperson said of the directive. “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense.”
DPS Superintendent Dr. Alex Marrero told Denver7 the recent enforcement operations in the city have resulted in fear among students and families.
"We should not have to wake up each and every day and wonder if this is a day they're going to come to the schools because we know that they're coming to the communities," Marrero told the news outlet.
"How devastating that raid was in our community, I can't put into words," the superintendent told Denver7. "[You have] a parent who's telling their child, 'Run to school,' because, in essence, save yourself."
The lawsuit, which names DHS and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, alleges that DPS is "hindered in fulfilling its mission" to the students who are not attending school "for fear of immigration enforcement actions occurring on DPS school grounds." The document claims the district has diverted resources from its educational mission to prepare for immigration arrests.
"Each and every day is just wondering whether we're going to meet our attendance goals. And in certain cases, when there's advocacy happening — and rightfully so — we don't even know if we can open up schools because we may not have the workforce that we need to maintain the ratios to protect our children. It's just not sustainable," Marrerro said.
The superintendent believes removing schools as protected areas will only further hurt the DPS community.
"Everyone functions under the notion that schools are the safe haven. Let's continue to function in that way. We shouldn't have to live in fear. So that's why we're taking this approach," he said.
The lawsuit, which is the first of its kind to be filed by a public school, was filed on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. Marrero hopes an injunction comes quickly and expects a decision on the matter within two weeks. (Denver7)
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Fox News' Bill Melugin reacted to the news, noting that since the policy change, there has not been an immigration enforcement action carried out in a school.
Since the Trump admin changed the policy, there has not been one single instance where ICE has entered a school, though Chicago Public Schools did fabricate such an incident - which turned out to be Secret Service.
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) February 13, 2025
I’ve joined ICE on multiple ops. Not once has a school even been… https://t.co/0O1PF35vP8
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