ICE raids at schools: Federal judge gives green light

A federal judge has ruled against the Denver public schools system's attempts to block immigration officials from carrying out raids on school grounds, marking a win for the Trump administration as it looks to ramp up its deportation efforts. 

Denver Public Schools had sought a preliminary injunction barring the federal government from making arrests at sensitive locations, which was denied. Domenico also denied a request that he grant a nationwide preliminary injunction forcing immigration officials to revert to the 2021 guidance.

Besides a drop in attendance, Denver Public Schools said it had to divert resources to respond to fear among students and families over the lifting of longtime rules.

The school system also argued that rescinding the policy had caused schools to devote time and resources to teaching students and staff how to remain safe from immigration enforcement. Denver Public Schools has trained staff on how to handle ICE officers if they show up at school, telling them to deny agents entry if they don't have a warrant signed by a judge. 

Domenico, a Trump appointee and Colorado's former solicitor general, said that it wasn't clear how much of the fear surrounding possible enforcement actions in schools was really due to the new rules as opposed to broader concerns of increased immigration actions.

He also pointed out that Denver Public Schools had not yet experienced any raids and noted that the head of ICE also issued a directive to its officers that immigration arrests at sensitive places still had to be approved by supervisors.

The fear over the new rules, as well as the belief that the old rules provided protection to schools, both seem to be "overstated," Domenico said.

Denver Public Schools issued a statement expressing disappointment with the ruling, while asserting that its lawsuit was successful in making public details of the Trump administration rules.

Denver has seen a massive population jump in recent years, with the city predicting nearly 43,000 people arrived in the area via the southern border, the lawsuit said. 

The ruling also comes as the Trump administration has restarted the detention of illegal alien families that have deportation orders. 

Fox News is told ICE is now actively going into the interior of the U.S. and arresting migrant families that crossed the border illegally in years prior and have been ordered deported from the U.S. by a Justice Department immigration judge. This is known as a final order of removal, of which there are currently more than 1.4 million individuals on ICE's docket.

Border Patrol data shows more than 2 million migrant family units were apprehended while crossing the southern border illegally during the Biden administration. 

Fox News' Bille Melugin and Elizabeth Pritchett as well as The Associated Press contributed to this report.