Judge rejects schools districts' request to reinstate 'sensitive area' protections against ICE enforcement

MINNEAPOLIS (CN) — A federal judge on Wednesday declined to grant school districts a preliminary injunction to block a policy change that gives federal immigration agents broad discretion to conduct enforcement on school grounds.

In a 38-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Laura Provinzino found the school districts were unlikely to establish they have standing to sue the Department of Homeland Security over new guidance regarding immigration enforcement activities at or near schools.

The Joe Biden appointee said the new guidance, issued in 2025, did not change the department’s authority to engage in enforcement activities near protected areas.

“What has changed, evidently, is DHS’s willingness — not its authority — to conduct immigration enforcement activity at or near protected areas like schools,” Provinzino said in the order. “But such immigration enforcement has always been subject to DHS’s judgment and discretion.”

In February, two Minnesota school districts and a major teachers union sued immigration officials over a policy that gave federal immigration officers significant autonomy to conduct enforcement in and around schools.

For 30 years, schools had been largely off-limits for Immigration and Customs Enforcement except in extreme circumstances. But then Homeland Security reversed course on that policy in 2025 with little explanation.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement previously followed a crucial Biden-era policy outlined in a 2021 memo by former DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, in which he called the sensitive location guideline “fundamental” — stressing the department could accomplish its goals without conducting extensive enforcement in schools, hospitals, places of worship and other locations.

Mayorkas’ guidance did recognize limited circumstances under which enforcement action must be taken in those areas, including circumstances involving a national security threat or risk of death, violence or physical harm.

Homeland Security’s 2025 memorandum rescinded Mayorkas’ guidance, instructing federal officers to exercise discretion along with a “healthy dose of common sense.”

Provinzino noted the 2021 policy and previous guidance never explicitly prohibited enforcement actions on school grounds, and the 2025 memo never expressly encouraged federal agents to conduct enforcement activity in protected areas, including schools.

“It cannot reasonably be said that the issuance or implementation of the 2025 guidance, rather than the broader increases in immigration enforcement during Operation Metro Surge, was the direct cause of the ‘intrusions’ on FPSD’s property,” she said, adding courts can do little to order federal agencies to return to prior administration priorities.

Fridley and Duluth Public School Districts filed the Administrative Procedure Act suit amid Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota as enforcement action found its way onto Minnesota public school grounds.

One incident that garnered national attention took place at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis, where federal agents tackled and handcuffed staff, tear-gassed students and sprayed another chemical at a group after someone threw a snowball at an agent.

“DHS’s presence in and near school property has created an atmosphere of fear, for native-born citizens, naturalized citizens and legally present immigrants alike,” the school districts said in the initial complaint. “Parents across the state are afraid to send their children to school.

The districts noted plummeting school attendance, pandemic-era online learning numbers and aggressive enforcement actions throughout the surge, and sought to prohibit DHS from enforcing the new policy and operating within 1,000 feet of school property.

Provinzino referenced these widespread incidents in Wednesday’s order, mentioning the stark drop in attendance and strain on the school districts’ budgets and resources through increased remote-learning options, personnel training and door-to-door transportation for families in fear of their children encountering immigration agents.

But the judge said those impacts could be tied to “more generalized fears” about broader immigration enforcement during Operation Metro Surge.

“To the extent families are afraid to send their students to school because of concerns about immigration enforcement, restoring the 2021 guidance would not abate those concerns because it would not have the legal effect of preventing any future immigration enforcement at or near schools,” Provinzino said.

Although Provinzino declined to grant the school district’s a preliminary injunction against the department, the judge noted her order makes no final determination on the merits of the case, and the court does not offer its opinion as to the “wisdom of DHS’s policy” or the “sincerity of the harm” claimed.

“For decades, our schools have been recognized as places where students can learn and grow without fear. The Trump-Vance administration’s decision to allow immigration enforcement at and around schools has disrupted classrooms, driven families away, and created an environment of fear that no child should have to endure,” the plaintiffs said in a statement to Courthouse News. “We brought this case because every student deserves access to education in a safe and stable environment, and we will continue fighting to restore those protections and ensure that schools remain places of learning, not fear.”

The Department of Homeland Security told Courthouse News Wednesday’s ruling was a victory for the rule of law and common sense.

“ICE is not going to schools to arrest children — we are protecting children,” a DHS spokesperson said in an email. “Criminals are no longer able to hide in America’s schools to avoid arrest. The Trump administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense.”