Homeland Security, Denver Public Schools ‘mutually agree' to dismiss lawsuit
DENVER (KDVR) — Denver Public Schools' lawsuit filed against the Department of Homeland Security in February has been dismissed without prejudice, according to the district.
In a press release, DPS said that two parties 'mutually agreed to dismiss the lawsuit' on Monday. The suit sought to stop Homeland Security's revocation of schools as a sensitive location, preventing immigration enforcement actions.
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The suit was in response to a press release from Homeland Security announcing several policies had been rescinded, including guidelines for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents' enforcement actions that restricted immigration actions at 'sensitive locations,' which included schools, churches and hospitals. The announcement did not include details of the new policy.
DPS sought to have the new policy's language released through the lawsuit, and in March, a judge did not grant the school district's request for a temporary restraining order on the matter, 'which would have prohibited DHS' enforcement under the purportedly revised policy,' the district wrote in a press release.
The district said Homeland Security released the guidance requested in the district's Freedom of Information Act claim in oral arguments for the case, resulting in DHS publishing the 'new' policy, 'and admitted that the policy had not been fundamentally changed from the previous version,' DPS stated Tuesday.
'This was another significant victory for DPS and school districts nationwide, as the Department of Homeland Security admitted in federal court that the policy had not been changed in a meaningful way and that schools remained protected as sensitive locations. This fact was not previously known,' DPS said in a press release.
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The suit can be refiled should any immigration enforcement action be made on school property or near a school. DPS also noted that it was represented pro bono, thus not incurring any costs for the lawsuit.
'In DPS, we strive to provide safe and welcoming environments for ALL of our students,' the district's message stated. '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.'
The district said it would not hesitate to renew its legal battle should circumstances change.
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