street. PAUL, MINNESOTA — Lawyers for two Minnesota school districts and the state’s main teachers union asked a federal judge Wednesday to block a Trump administration policy change that gave immigration authorities greater latitude in taking enforcement actions in and near schools.
Department of Homeland Security It was canceled last year A long time ago Restrictions nationwide Regarding immigration enforcement in or near “sensitive locations,” such as schools, school bus stops, churches, and hospitals, making them effectively prohibited except in rare circumstances.
The Fridley and Duluth school districts and the Minnesota Education Union sued to block the new policy in February, just as the Department of Homeland Security sent about 3,000 federal officers to the state to participate in Operation Metro Surge. Federal agents involved in the crackdown Two citizens were killed In Minneapolis in January.
Prosecutors asked the court on Wednesday to either stay the implementation or issue a preliminary injunction that would restore the previous restrictions.
Attorney Amanda Sialkowski, who represents the district and the union, told reporters afterward that it was unclear whether the ruling in their favor would apply outside of Minnesota, or to other “sensitive sites” such as churches and hospitals.
“We have to wait and see what the judge does,” she added.
Educators across the country detailed the ways Trump’s crackdown on immigration has affected their work and the lives of their students. in Court filings In a slave girl The case was brought by the National Teachers Union in federal court in Oregon, Teachers described rumors of raids that frightened students, migrant parents who stopped sending their children to school altogether, and stories of parents and students being arrested at bus stops.
Democrats’ demand that federal authorities refrain from law enforcement operations around schools, churches and hospitals is one of these demands Unresolved disputes In the standoff between Congress and the administration over Homeland Security funding.
Arguments before U.S. District Judge Laura Provenzino on Wednesday focused mostly on complex legal issues about whether districts and unions have legal standing to sue, can show they were directly harmed by the policy change, and whether the new guidance amounts to the kind of final agency decision that a court would have the legal authority to review.
Justice Department lawyer Jessica Lundberg said that “replacing” last year’s policy guidance with previous guidance, as the plaintiffs want, would have no truly measurable impact. Even under the old rules, enforcement action in and around schools was always possible, she said.
Provenzino said she would rule “as quickly as I can… but I’ll also make sure I get it right.”
Supervisors for both the Fridley District, in suburban Minneapolis, and the Duluth District, in northern Minnesota, were in the courtroom for the arguments.
Brenda Lewis, Fridley’s superintendent, said the change “profoundly impacted” attendance because families did not feel safe sending their children to school. She said her schools have had to pivot to virtual learning for many students, which puts additional strain on resources.
The superintendent also said her district has lost 72 students since December, hurting funding that was based on the number of students and meals served. She added that some registered in areas they considered safer, while others left the country, and others are in detention centers.
while Official end of Operation Metro Surge means Fridley has not seen ICE officers on school property in eight weeks, and Lewis said the effects will last for many years.
Duluth Supervisor John Magas noted that his district — about 150 miles north of Minneapolis — lies outside the Twin Cities metro area, but began feeling the effects of the policy change long before the surge.
School districts throughout the Twin Cities area saw truancy rates spike during the crackdown. In St. Paul, more than 9,000 students were absent in mid-January, more than a quarter of the district, according to attendance data obtained by The Associated Press.
Minneapolis Public Schools had more than 8,000 students staying home on the last day of school in January, roughly 30% of the student population. Fridley saw attendance drop by about a third, according to court filings.
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Sharon Lowry, a data reporter for the Associated Press Education Reporting Network, contributed to this story from Philadelphia.