Fridley and Duluth schools, along with the state teachers union, are suing the Trump administration to keep federal immigration agents off school property.
The new measure comes as school leaders decry what they say is increased federal agent activity on and near campuses, causing fear and safety concerns. The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction barring enforcement within 1,000 feet of school property.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Minnesota against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and top officials at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection, asks a judge to reinstate the federal government’s decades-old “protected areas” policy, which limited enforcement in sensitive locations including schools.
The DHS revoked that policy in January 2025. Since then, federal officials have said immigration agents do not target schools or children. In September 2025, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement, “ICE is not conducting enforcement operations at, or ‘raiding,’ schools.” The statement went on to say that the DHS directive allowing ICE to go into schools “gives our law enforcement the ability to do their jobs. Our agents use discretion. Officers would need secondary supervisor approval before any action can be taken in locations such as a school. We expect these to be extremely rare.”
The lawsuit repeats what school officials have said for weeks, amid the surge of federal immigration agents: Attendance is down because students fear coming to school. Agents are staging on school property and conducting operations near schools and bus stops, which interferes with student learning and the regular functions of a school district and school staff.
Then last week, Fridley Superintendent Brenda Lewis said she was followed by ICE on her way to school. Several of the district’s school board members have had ICE vehicles park outside their homes, something she said is “retaliation” for speaking out against ICE.
Fridley schools closed Jan. 9 and Jan. 16 because of safety concerns and have seen attendance fall by nearly a third, prompting the district to expand remote learning. School social workers are delivering food to families staying home, which means “diverting their time from their normal work” and putting their own safety at risk, as agents have followed them during deliveries, according to the complaint.
Duluth schools say administrators are spending nearly a third of their time on planning related to immigration activities, an effort the district estimates costs about $573,000 a month.
