Minnesota’s teachers union and two school districts are suing to block immigration enforcement at public schools.
In a civil complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, plaintiffs Education Minnesota and Duluth and Fridley public schools argue the enforcement has “caused direct and irreparable harm to the abilities of school districts and educators to fulfill their functions — to educate children and to provide access to educational services and a safe learning environment.”
The lawsuit seeks to stop immigration enforcement at or within 1,000 feet of school property or school bus stops “absent a judicial warrant or genuinely exigent circumstances.”
The complaint names the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and several of the agencies’ national and local leaders.
DHS, when asked for comment on the lawsuit, sent a statement from Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.
“ICE is not going to schools to arrest children — we are protecting children,” the statement read. “The Trump administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement and instead trusts them to use common sense. If a dangerous illegal alien felon were to flee into a school, or a child sex offender is working as an employee, there may be a situation where an arrest is made to protect public safety. But this has not happened.”
Policy change
The lawsuit says DHS violated the Administrative Procedures Act when the agency rescinded its longstanding policy that designated schools and bus stops as a safe zone to be avoided when carrying out immigration enforcement. DHS did not engage in notice-and-comment rulemaking before repealing the policy in January 2025, as required by the federal law, and “should be enjoined from implementing it,” the complaint says.
The policy shift has led to school closures or a switch to remote learning — causing districts a loss of time and money — and a sharp drop in student attendance, according to the complaint.
“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 complaint states. “Parents across the state are afraid to send their children to school, and schools have had to adjust their programs.”
Fridley schools’ attendance rate has dropped nearly one-third during the enforcement surge and over 400 families have opted into remote learning, causing teachers to “divert hours of time from other tasks to create new curricula for remote learning,” according to the complaint.
Duluth schools’ administrators have spent nearly a third of their time on planning related to immigration activities, costing the district about $573,000 a month, the complaint says.
“Students can’t learn, and educators can’t teach, when there are armed, masked federal agents stationed within view of classroom windows, sometimes for days on end,” Monica Byron, the president of Education Minnesota, said in a statement. Education Minnesota is made up of 477 local unions, representing more than 84,000 members.
Incidents cited
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The complaint cites 14 enforcement incidents at or near schools or involving students and teachers.
They include the high-profile case of Christina Rank, an Inver Grove Heights paraprofessional at Concord Education Center who was arrested in the school’s parking lot after a car crash involving ICE agents on Jan. 12. Rank has since been charged in federal court, with the complaint alleging she followed ICE agents from the school parking lot, drove into an oncoming lane and across the parking lot entrance at the same time the officers were turning into the lot, causing the collision.
Wednesday’s lawsuit says immigration agents pulled over two vans contracted by St. Paul schools to carry students and staff on Jan. 15, and that agents were in the parking lots at Little Canada Elementary School and Roseville Education Center on Jan. 21.
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