Thread: Md:Battle heats up over immigrant student tally

Battle heats up over immigrant student tally
Part 1: Counting illegals
Originally published January 26, 2009


By Nicholas C. Stern
News-Post Staff


Several Frederick County Commissioners have been trying for more than a year to halt what they believe is a strain on government services created by an increase in the local population of illegal immigrants.

Most efforts by commissioners John L. Thompson Jr. and Charles Jenkins, for example, have focused on cutting funds for education and social services.

A Jan. 12 letter from the county attorney to the state board of education marked the latest move in Jenkins' and Thompson's attempts to count the number of illegal immigrants who attend the county's public schools.

An accurate count of the local illegal immigrant population is not available, though the number of Latinos and Asians is on the rise.

Between July 2006 and July 2007, Frederick County's Latino population grew by 14.1 percent, to 12,900, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. The area's Asian population grew by 8.1 percent during the same period.

Jenkins has suggested asking for proof of citizenship from students enrolled in the county's English as a Second Language classes.

Thompson wanted to withhold a portion of the Frederick County Board of Education's fiscal 2009 operating budget until the school board provided the number of illegal immigrant students.

Jenkins recently announced his intention to run for state delegate in District 3B, which covers the southern part of Frederick County and a portion of Washington County.

He has said illegal immigration will a top issues in his campaign.

Funding or reform

Thompson and Jenkins have said they hope a count of students who can't prove legal immigration status will spur federal legislators to either increase education funding or take action on immigration reform.

"It is the responsibility of the federal government to either keep the borders secure or reimburse state and local governments for the costs the latter must absorb when the feds fail to keep the borders secure," Thompson wrote in an e-mail.

In early October, the county commissioners voted to ask the Maryland Board of Education whether a local school system could collect data "to support the proposition that a student is lawfully present in the United States."

John S. Mathias, county attorney, said he believed state law allows school systems to ask for such information, despite the local school board's attempt to have the commissioners'petition dismissed with the assertion that the count would violate federal law.

"Nobody's asking (the school board to) ban foreign students from public schools," Mathias said.

BoE dismissal

In a Nov. 24 letter, the county school board asked the state education board to dismiss the commissioners' request for a ruling, arguing the county does not have jurisdiction and the commissioners questions are "not material to any existing case or controversy."

The letter's author, Andrew W. Nussbaum, an attorney representing the school board, also stated that, "The propositions set forth by the commissioners would do nothing but harass and intimidate those individuals."

Federal law prohibits school systems from including information about immigration status on student record cards, Nussbaum stated. Also, school systems may not request a student's parents or guardians to do so.

Mathias countered that the school board's claims of intimidation and harassment were not supported in the resolution.

"They are simply 'straw man' arguments conceived out of whole cloth by the BOE attorneys and should be ignored," he wrote. "Lest there be any doubt, the BOCC has no intent to harass or intimidate anyone."

Maryland laws, he stated, do not prohibit a request for information on whether a student is in the country lawfully.

Tomorrow: Part 2 -- Constitutional questions
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sectio ... ryID=85643

"It is the responsibility of the federal government to either keep the borders secure or reimburse state and local governments for the costs the latter must absorb when the feds fail to keep the borders secure," Thompson wrote in an e-mail."

Well the other President was a fool and this on IS an illegal alien!

I'll consider myself lucky if I don't have to wear a Burkka ... sigh