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 revoke a policy that for more than a decade has stopped federal immigration officials from arresting people without documentation at schools.
The district has its own policy that has 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 regarding the immigration status of children in Denver schools and sharing it with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, according to the statement.
“Please know that DPS will do everything we can to ensure safe and disruption-free learning environments by protecting our community from any unlawful federal overreach,” Marrero and the school board wrote in the statement.
NBC News reported last week that President-elect Donald Trump plans to rescind a federal policy that prevents ICE agents from arresting people at “sensitive locations,” including schools, hospitals and places of worship.
The reporting comes as Trump has called for mass deportations of people who are in the country without authorization and as districts across the nation are preparing for the potential impacts, including whether the incoming president’s threats will lead immigrant parents to stop sending their children to school.
Educators nationwide are training staff on how to act in the event of raids and assuring families their kids are safe on campus.
For more than a decade, schools have been largely off-limits for immigration enforcement. In 2011, ICE adopted a policy urging agents to avoid arresting immigrants near schools, hospitals and churches so as not to discourage them from attending to essential parts of life.
The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 has recommended that the next Trump administration rescind 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 government, including Tom Homan as “border czar.”
In case schools become a target for arrests of parents or students, some districts are training staff, especially those who control access to the front doors at schools, to block immigration agents from entering without a valid warrant. They are also training school clerks and others to not share student information with agents.
School officials say children can’t learn if they’re afraid they or their parents will be detained on campus. They also say these practices safeguard 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 at schools — or, in Denver, how DPS will respond.
DPS spokesman Scott Pribble said “it would be inappropriate to speculate on potential changes and their impacts at this time.”
“We simply do not know enough about potential changes to responsibly comment,” he said in a statement. “However, DPS will continue to stand by our values and do everything we can to provide safe learning environments for our students and staff.”
Denver Public Schools is Colorado’s largest district, with 88,235 students as of the 2023-24 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 in hundreds of migrant students arriving from the southern border last academic year. District and school officials welcomed the new arrivals, who boosted enrollment in DPS after a years-long drop in students.
District officials will work with local law enforcement officials “to the extent required by law in regards to federal demands and policing,” according to the statement.
“Regardless of actions taken, DPS will continue to follow the law and provide an education to all students regardless of their immigration status,” Marrero and the board said in their statement. “We will also continue to protect the personal information of all of our students and staff and will not share it unless required by law.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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