Thread: MD: Frederick considers counting undocumented students

Frederick considers counting undocumented students


By: Hayley Peterson 12/05/10 8:05 PM
Examiner Staff Writer

Frederick County officials are lobbying Maryland lawmakers for tighter illegal immigration laws, including a proposal that would require county schools to report a head count of undocumented students.
The county's board of commissioners is forwarding the proposals to Frederick's state delegation for consideration in the upcoming legislative session.

The head count of undocumented students would not include individuals' names or any other identifying factors, according to the proposals first reported by the Frederick News-Post.

The measure failed to gain enough support among the five-member board last year. Disapproving officials cited concerns that parents who are in the country illegally would remove their children from the school system.

But proponents say the measure would help the county determine how much money undocumented students are costing the county.

"We're not rounding them up, we're just trying to get a handle on what the costs are," said Brad Botwin, director of anti-illegal-immigrant group Help Save Maryland. He pointed out that education is the state's largest cost driver.

"We have to get a grip at the state level," he said. "We need to understand what this 'New Americans' policy of Gov. O'Malley's -- inviting everyone and their cousin to come into the state -- is costing us."

Some criticized O'Malley for being soft on illegal immigration when he called illegal immigrants "new Americans" in his recent run for re-election.

The Frederick commissioners petitioned the county school board, which would be responsible for the count, to study the policy in October 2008. The board ruled in March 2009 that officials have no right to question students' immigration status without a "valid" reason.

Botwin said the measure will likely die in the General Assembly because the largely Democratic legislature doesn't have the stomach for it.

"But I think it is important for the counties to step up," he said. "This is what we're supposed to be doing -- let's put the pressure on Annapolis and let the delegates and senators of Annapolis say no. Good for Frederick."


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I support this proposal. It is time to enforce the laws and stop helping illegal aliens. All illegal aliens must be deported.