Constitution Requires State To Educate Children Of Illegal Immigrants

January 8, 2008
By Jason Wiest
THE MORNING NEWS


LITTLE ROCK -- States cannot deny the general availability of a public education to children of illegal immigrants who have either been deported or no longer reside in a school district, a state lawyer told a legislative panel Tuesday.

Educating the children under those circumstances is required by both the U.S. Constitution and Arkansas Constitution, according to Scott Smith, general counsel for the Arkansas Department of Education.

Beyond that, Smith said, state law requires every parent, guardian or other person residing in Arkansas who has custody of any child to enroll and send the child to a public, private or parochial school.

"So as you can see, there is a statutory mandate even beyond the constitutional requirements that would entitle these children to attend a public school if they so desire," Smith told a joint meeting of the House and Senate education committees.

The U.S. Supreme Court has said states can establish residency requirements, and Arkansas has one. Children must meet a two-part test regarding residency, and the children of illegal immigrants who have been deported meet that test, he said.

"Do we carry that far enough to say that we should go out and police these children and make them go to school?" Rep. Rick Green, R-Van Buren, asked.

Truancy laws apply to the children of illegal immigrants who have been deported just as they do the children with parents in the U.S. legally, Smith said.

After the meeting, Green said he asked the question out of simple curiosity.

"I don't want to discriminate," Green said. "I want to follow the law."

Knowing that the children of illegal immigrants must be educated does not diminish the need for studies on how much it costs to educate those children, said Green, who with other lawmakers has initiated an interim study on the cost of illegal immigration in Arkansas.

"I think we have a responsibility of being accountable whether its costs we can control or not," he said Tuesday.

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