DENVER — Denver Public Schools Board of Education is considering a policy that would limit cooperation with federal immigration agents as the district responds to concerns from Latino community groups.
Denver-based advocacy group Movimiento Poder called the situation "urgent" after hearing stories from DPS families about their experiences.
“We do know of instances where ICE has tried to contact students during lunch hour, during dismissal,” said Movimiento Poder's interim executive director Berenice Aguirre. “Our students are scared to go to school.”
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The proposed policy language would be added to Denver Public Schools' exisiting policy and would establish comprehensive protections against federal immigration enforcement in all DPS and charter school properties.
Denver7 spoke with DPS board president Xochitl Gaytan, a proponent of the policy change.
“We've seen in other cities in the nation where federal authorities have overstepped their bounds and have detained parents at children's schools, and so what measures can we take as the Denver school board to be able to protect our students and DPS employees alike?," Gaytan said.
The proposal would designate schools and bus stops as "safe zones," stop DPS staff from working with federal immigration agents unless they have a judicial warrant, and prevent school resource officers from issuing citations or making arrests that could lead to student deportation.
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“We know that there are some questions about what we proposed. So we're willing to collaborate, to work together to ensure that something passes soon, and to ensure that those protections are put in place sooner rather than later,” Aguirre added.
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In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it does not raid or target schools, adding that its officers would need secondary approval before action could be taken in a school setting — something the agency says is extremely rare.
“There's accusations that ICE is coming into the schools, and they're going after people in the schools, when the reality was they simply were chasing someone who ended up at a school,” Colorado State Senator Mark Baisley told Denver7.
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But advocates and district leaders like Gaytan tell us attendance rates have gone down — and they believe it’s due to families’ fear.
The policy, they hope, could change that.
“I think we'll see students attending school more than they are, and it's really just kind of a safety net,” said Milo Marquez, chair of the Latino Education Coalition.
During Thursday night's board meeting, members acknowledged that parts of the policy may not hold up under state and federal law. The proposal is expected to undergo extensive legal review.
Board Director Marlene De La Rosa emphasized the importance of that legal review process.
"I don't want to give any false hope or false protection," De La Rosa said.
The proposal will be open for public comment on March 5 as the district, which serves nearly 90,000 students, navigates its next steps.
▶️ We continued our reporting on Denver7 News at 10. You can watch Claire Lavezzorio's report in the video player below.
