Thread: Alabama's attorney general balks at giving feds school data

Alabama's attorney general balks at giving feds school data

By Gustavo Valdes, CNN

updated 12:09 AM EST, Thu November 3, 2011

Montgomery, Alabama (CNN) -- Alabama's attorney general questioned Wednesday whether the federal government has the legal right of to ask for data from school districts in the state, which has recently passed controversial legislation intended to reduce illegal immigration.

In a letter sent Wednesday, Attorney General Luther Strange said he was "perplexed and troubled" about a request from the Justice Department for information about Alabama's schools.

The Justice Department issued the letter Tuesday to Alabama school districts to ensure they are complying with federal law, which declares that a child may not be denied equal access to schools based on his or her immigration status.

Strange's letter noted that the law was still being litigated.

Strange set a Friday noon deadline for Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for DOJ's civil right division, to provide the legal authority for his request.

Last spring, the Alabama legislature passed the law known as HB 56 relating to illegal immigration and a federal judge allowed most of its provisions to go into effect, including a mandate for public schools to ask about the immigration status of students enrolling in the system. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit granted the Justice Department's request for an emergency injunction for that section of the law but allowed other controversial parts to continue being enforced.

The Alabama Department of Education sent a memorandum to school districts recommending they wait for resolution of the issue between the state attorney and Justice Department before responding to the DOJ request.

In the days following the implementation of HB 56, the number of Latino students skipping class spiked.

Malissa Valdes, communication manager for the Alabama Department of Education, said the number of Latino absentees has since leveled off but remains several hundred higher than normal.

The Department of Education also released enrollment numbers for the current school year showing an overall decrease in the student population but a 2.8 percent increase in Latino students, who represent some 35,000 of the state's 740,000 students.

Valdes said the state tried to inform the districts of possible changes related to HB 56 while stressing that no student should be denied enrollment regardless of legal status.

"If everyone sticks exactly to what the law asks from them and they don't go beyond, then there should not be any danger to the education of all students that are welcomed, no matter what," Valdes said.

The American Civil Liberties Union's legal director in Alabama, Allison Neal, said she is happy the Justice Department is asking state educators to do what they can to prevent Latino students from becoming discouraged about attending school.

"We want to make sure students have the right to their education," Neal said.

Valdes said the state sent letters to the schools and to students' parents before and after the law was enacted to prevent confusion.

The ACLU declined to comment on Strange's response to the DOJ request.

Officials at Birmingham City Schools have tried to encourage parents to keep their children in our schools and have told them their children would not be affected by the immigration law, said Michaelle Chapman, the schools' director of communications, in a statement. "On the heels of the court decision allowing the law to go into effect, we sent an automated call to all parents explaining that no information would be collected regarding children who already were enrolled. The call went out in Spanish to our Latino families."

The Montgomery School District sent Spanish-speaking teachers to areas with large numbers of Latinos to encourage the families to continue to send their kids to school.

At Evergreen Estates, a mobile home park on the outskirts of Montgomery, parents awaiting the return of their kids from school said they were not aware that some parents were keeping their children home out of fear of the law.

A Guatemalan woman in the United States without legal papers said she had left from Georgia with her eighth-grade son when the state started talking about a similar law and was considering leaving Alabama, too.

"I hear they are looking for farm workers in Florida," she said.

But, she added, she had never considered taking her child out of school.

Valdes said the number of students withdrawn from state schools will not be known for months because the schools have not received official notification from the families about permanently removing their kids.

She said the department will continue to work to ensure all children in Alabama continue to be educated. "We are here to educate the children but have to follow every law that is passed and active," Valdes said.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/03/us/alabama-schools-feds/

Related article:

Alabama attorney general 'troubled' by feds



Luther Strange asked the Justice Department to define its authority to 'demand' data. | AP Photo Close

By TIM MAK | 11/3/11 6:17 AM EDT

Alabama�s Attorney General said Wednesday he was �perplexed and troubled� by a federal government request to provide information on local school children to the Justice Department for the purpose of ensuring that illegal immigrants are not being denied access to schools.

The Justice Department issued a letter on Tuesday requesting data from all of Alabama�s school districts, saying it wanted to ensure compliance with a federal law that prevents children from being denied equal access to schools based on immigration status. To that end, Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez requested information on student withdrawals in 2010-2011, race, national origin and immigration status.

But in a biting response on Wednesday, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange asked the Justice Department to show where it had the authority to �demand the information or compel its production�otherwise, I will assume you have none, and will proceed accordingly,� according to the Montgomery Advertiser.

�I was perplexed and troubled to learn that you have personally written to Alabama�s school superintendents demanding information related to the pending litigation,� wrote Strange in a letter to Perez, according to WBHM. Strange also noted that litigation on the federal law was still ongoing.

In October, the Obama administration filed a challenge of Alabama�s immigration law, widely seen as one of the toughest in the country.

Following a September ruling upholding the law, the Alabama Education Department said that thousands of Hispanics did not show up for class the following Monday.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/67507.html

...ensure they are complying with federal law, which declares that a child may not be denied equal access to schools based on his or her immigration status.

Strange's letter noted that the law was still being litigated.

More liars in DC. What kind of government and country do we have, when the "justice" department will lie for political reasons?

Dixie

Luther Strange, Alabama Attorney General, Rebuffs Justice Department's Probe Of State Immigration Law



In the latest of a series of sparring letters between the U.S. Justice Department and Alabama over educational issues surrounding the state's new immigration law, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange won't yield -- after the federal office noted its "express authority" to investigate.

Last week, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Thomas Perez pressured Alabama schools to abide by federal requirements that states cannot deny children equal access to public education based on immigration status. In a letter Monday to Alabama school superintendents, Perez requested information on enrollment practices by mid-month, saying that the state's new immigration law "may chill or discourage" young people from taking part in public education.

Perez seeks to determine whether the law has affected public school enrollment and determine if Alabama is in federal compliance and "whether further action is warranted."

In response, Strange questioned the Justice Department's legal authority to acquire enrollment information about students across the state's schools. He requested that the department respond by Friday, "otherwise, I will assume you have none, and will proceed accordingly," Strange wrote.

By Friday, the Justice Department did respond, telling the attorney general that it has "express authority" to investigate what could be violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act, Fox News reports. From Fox News:

"The Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department is tasked with investigating potential violations of civil rights laws that protect educational opportunities for schoolchildren," Perez wrote in a letter. "We know that the longstanding legal tradition in this country of ensuring the right to attend school without being subject to discrimination on any impermissible ground is as critically important to you, as the Attorney General of the State of Alabama, as it is to the Civil Rights Division."

But according to WBHM, Strange wasn't convinced, responding to the Justice Department, "Thank you for your letter of today's date, which I understand to confirm that your Office asserts no legal authority to compel production of the information that you are seeking." WBHM reports that Strange continues in his letter:

"My office is determined to see that our school children are protected from unlawful activity. Toward that end, would you please share with me any complaints that your division has recently received in Alabama? Perhaps that would help us to begin a joint endeavor."

Meanwhile, interim schools Superintendent Larry Craven has advised district superintendents not to comply with the federal request until the Justice Department and Strange resolve their dispute, the Associated Press reports.

The debate comes after the Justice Department sued Alabama over a statute that requires schools to collect information on the immigration status of students who seek enrollment in public schools, though it does not block undocumented students from enrolling in the system. A federal appeals court last month blocked the state from implementing the statute, but ruled to stay parts of the law.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/0 ... 80933.html

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