Denver Public School leaders are reaffirming their support for all students, regardless of immigration status, following a report that the second Trump administration plans to rescind a policy that for more than a decade has prevented federal immigration officials from detaining undocumented immigrants arrest schools.
The district has its own policy that prohibits “federal immigration law enforcement activities” from taking place at DPS schools, on buses, on district property or at other school activities, according to the joint statement issued Friday by Superintendent Alex Marrero and the Board of Education.
DPS policy also prohibits district employees from collecting information about the immigration status of children at Denver schools and sharing it with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the statement said.
“Please know that DPS will do everything we can to ensure safe and disruption-free learning environments by protecting our community from unlawful federal overreach,” Marrero and the school board wrote in the statement.
NBC News reported last week that President-elect Donald Trump plans to revoke a federal policy that prevents ICE agents from arresting people in “sensitive locations” including schools, hospitals and places of worship.
The reporting comes as Trump has called for mass deportations of people in the country without permission, and as districts across the country prepare for the potential fallout, including whether the incoming president’s threats will matter that immigrant parents will stop sending their children to school.
Educators across the country train staff on how to respond to raids and ensure their children are safe on campus.
For more than a decade, schools have been largely off-limits to immigration enforcement. In 2011, ICE adopted a policy urging agents not to arrest immigrants near schools, hospitals and churches, so as not to deter them from engaging in essential parts of life.
The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 has recommended that the next Trump administration repeal the “sensitive locations” policy. Trump distanced himself from Project 2025 during his campaign but has chosen people who worked on the policy roadmap for his next administration, including Tom Homan as “border czar.”
In case schools become targets for parent or student arrests, some districts are training staff, especially those who control access to the front doors of schools, to prevent immigration agents from entering without a valid arrest warrant. They also train school staff and others not to share student information with officers.
School officials say children can’t learn if they fear they or their parents will be detained on campus. They also say these practices guarantee immigrant students’ right to a free public education.
It’s unclear whether Trump will follow through with his plans to change federal policy and allow arrests in schools — or, in Denver, how DPS will respond.
DPS spokesman Scott Pribble said that “it would be inappropriate at this time to speculate on potential changes and their impact.”
“We simply don’t know enough about potential changes to comment responsibly,” he said in a statement. “However, DPS will continue to stand behind our values and do everything we can to provide safe learning environments for our students and employees.”
Denver Public Schools is Colorado’s largest district, with 88,235 students in the 2023-2024 academic year. The district serves a majority (75%) of students of color and 52% of the student population is Latino, according to the latest data from the Colorado Department of Education.
DPS, along with other districts in metro Denver, saw a surge of hundreds of migrant students arriving from the southern border last academic year. District and school officials welcomed the newcomers, who boosted DPS enrollment after years of student declines.
District officials will cooperate with local law enforcement “to the extent required by law regarding federal requirements and police conduct,” the statement said.
“Regardless of any actions taken, DPS will continue to follow the law and provide education to all students, regardless of immigration status,” Marrero and the board said in their statement. “We will also continue to protect the personal information of all our students and employees and will not share it unless required to do so by law.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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