EDITOR'S NOTE: This story initially incorrectly said the judge had granted this TRO request. The judge only partially granted it.
A judge has granted in part the Denver Public Schools request for a temporary restraining order against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Monday.
The district made the ask earlier this year when DHS Secretary Benjamine Huffman rescinded 2021 policies that DPS said prevented U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents from making arrests at schools, churches and hospitals.
Education
DPS seeks temporary restraining order over removal of 'protected areas'
A hearing on the matter is set for Friday at 2 p.m. Each side will have 30 minutes to make an oral argument. No additional evidence can be presented.
"This is open litigation and witnesses should not comment on their statements until the litigation closes," Scott Pribble with DPS said, when asked for comment.
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."
There was a 3% decrease in attendance across all of DPS in February 2025 as compared to February 2024 and an 8% in chronic absenteeism, according to Laney Shaler with DPS. That means students attended school less than 90% of the time.
Since Jan. 21, 2025, the DPS Climate and Safety Response Team testified it has had to respond to numerous false reports of ICE actions. Prior to the federal policy change, Shaler said, the district had not received any reports of immigration activities at its schools during the 2024-2025 school year.
However DHS argues in court documents, the district has not provided sufficient evidence that its core function has been "directly affected and interfered." DHS also counters the district's argument that 2021 federal guidance prohibited ICE or CBP agents from conducting raids at schools, saying it allowed such actions with prior higher-level approval or under exigent circumstances.
DHS argued against the DPS complaint, that under prior policy, there was a guarantee the next raid would not be at a school. DHS said that was not the case in the agency's 2021 guidance.
While one fourth grade teacher said a federal raid at the Cedar Run Apartments in February prevented students from getting on the bus to go to school, DHS pointed to how those actions were not taken on school grounds.
"Rather, DPS relies on a theory of indirect interference by DHS, pointing to the impact on DPS of concerns of students and others about potential DHS immigration enforcement at DPS. It argues it has suffered a cognizable harm from the chilling effect that immigration enforcement may have had on attendance by its students," DHS argues in court documents.
The federal agency also said DPS is pursuing the temporary restraining order as an organization, and does not currently have the legal standing to represent its students and their families.
Read the full DHS response to the DPS lawsuit in the document below:
Read the DPS response to DHS in the document below:
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