With an increase in children from refugee backgrounds entering schools around the world, it has grown increasingly important to examine educational policy design and implementation to understand how policies shape teachers' interactions with this student population. This article focuses on Structured English Immersion, the language policy that frames the educational experiences for refugee students in Arizona. Through a review of the literature and data collected from teacher interviews, we explore how teachers appropriate a restrictive language policy to construct "de facto" policies in their classrooms. Innovative practices that teachers employ are highlighted, and recommendations for further research, policy, and practice are provided.