Overview
- The case, argued Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Laura Provinzino, asks for a preliminary injunction that would restore past limits on immigration arrests at or near schools known as sensitive-location protections.
- Fridley and Duluth school districts and the Education Minnesota union say the policy change drove fear and absences, with Fridley reporting a loss of 72 students since December and districts across the Twin Cities seeing attendance drops as high as about one third.
- Government lawyers argued that switching back to the prior guidance would not change much because enforcement near schools was always possible, and a DHS statement said agents do not target children and act to protect public safety.
- The lawsuit followed Operation Metro Surge, when DHS sent about 3,000 federal officers to Minnesota in winter 2026, and the Associated Press reported that agents involved in the crackdown killed two citizens in Minneapolis in January.
- What happens next could matter beyond these districts, as teachers’ unions pursue a related case in Oregon and Democrats seek to bar operations near schools in Homeland Security funding talks, though the scope of any ruling here remains uncertain.