Thread: Public schools can not ask students about their immigration status

Questions answered about ruling on student immigration status


Questions answered about ruling on student immigration status

WUSA 11:18 PM. EDT March 21, 2017




ROCKVILLE, MD (WUSA9) - White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer linked the case to federal immigration policy. He said is underscores why President Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration is necessary.

Spicer was asked if the president will outlaw undocumented students in public schools. He did not directly answer the question.

RELATED: Superintendent doesn't want focus on immigration status in HS rape case

It is legal for public schools to teach students regardless of their citizenship.

It’s one of the top questions Montgomery County Public Schools was getting Tuesday night.

The school board put out three pages of explanations.

Public schools nationwide cannot even ask students about their immigration papers. It all comes down to a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court.

Montgomery County Schools Superintendent Dr. Jack Smith is ardently defending a law on the books for 35 years.

In 1982, the Supreme Court decided denying students for being undocumented was unconstitutional.

"It's wholly and entirely inappropriate for any of us anytime anywhere to say we are going to deny anyone anywhere of an education because a horrible incident last Thursday," said Dr. Smith.

RELATED: ICE: Md. high school rape suspect entered US illegally

Eighteen-year-old Henry Sanchez is charged with rape.

Border Patrol records show last August, the Guatemalan entered the country illegally through Mexico.

School administrators say he was enrolled in Rockville High School for about six months.

Immigration advocates insist challenging the law would do more harm than good. They point to a recent Pew study.
It found less than two percent of all K to 12 students are undocumented.

The superintendent estimates 25,000 students system-wide are native speakers of another language. Administrators stress no change will happen at the county level.

This has caused concern at the state level. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan vowed to veto a bill called the "Trust Act." It could keep state and local police from helping with federal immigration raids. Hogan pointed to the Rockville rape case as another reason why he's against it.

The age of the student-suspects has also been a big question.

Sanchez was 18 but was classified as a freshmen. Maryland law states that students as old as 21 can get free public education in the state.

http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/ques...atus/424432649

White House blames Md. school rape on lax border, sanctuary policies

Plyler vs Doe? Of course they can ask their immigration status. They have to have their documentation to know their age. If they have a foreign birth certificate, they aren't a US citizen. If they don't have a US birth certificate they would have to have a foreign passport or immigration documents. This is another absurdity in policy and law.

People with a foreign birth certificate become U.S. citizens every day and they still have a foreign birth certificate to show their date of birth to establish their age. Showing a foreign birth certificate proves nothing but their date of birth. And sadly that is all the law allows the school to ask for.

U.S. Warns Schools Against Checking Immigration Status - The New ...

www.nytimes.com/2011/05/07/education/07immig.html
May 6, 2011 - “The undocumented or noncitizen status of a student (or his or her ... that they not ask for information that might reveal the immigration status of ...

New guidelines ban schools from conducting immigration checks on ...

www.cnn.com/2014/05/08/us/schools-immigration-checks/
May 8, 2014 - But schools can't require proof of citizenship or block students if ... But only to establish residency, not to determine legal immigration status, the guidelines say. They also may ask for legal certification to show a child's age.

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

People with a foreign birth certificate become U.S. citizens every day and they still have a foreign birth certificate to show their date of birth to establish their age. Showing a foreign birth certificate proves nothing but their date of birth. And sadly that is all the law allows the school to ask for.

Well, people with a foreign birth certificate aren't even eligible to become US citizens until after they turn 18 and then they have quite a lengthy process to go through to actually become one. So for K-12, that will pretty much guarantee that any student with a foreign birth certificate is not a US citizen. Then there's residency requirements to prove you're in the right school district which for minors is with your legal guardians and the school requires information on parents, home address and so forth. And most states require their schools to ask for Social Security Numbers to enroll. There's no federal requirement for that but states are free to require it so long as they protect the privacy of the numbers. If you don't have parents, and you don't have a home, and you don't have an SSN, and you don't speak English, it really doesn't take a genius to figure out that you are a illegal alien and in the wrong place without proper residency to attend that school.

But alas, lets don't try to solve the problems, lets just be sheep and play the game of the people destroying our country with the absurdity of "don't ask, don't tell".

Whatever.

Originally Posted by Judy

Well, people with a foreign birth certificate aren't even eligible to become US citizens until after they turn 18 and then they have quite a lengthy process to go through to actually become one. So for K-12, that will pretty much guarantee that any student with a foreign birth certificate is not a US citizen. . .

Minor children automaticly become citizens when their parents become citizens by the parent filling out a form. The children don't have to attend a ceremony, recite anything or even be aware of it. So those minor citizen children would still have a foreign birth certificate to prove their date of birth while being a U.S. citizen under 18.

Child's Eligibility for Citizenship

When I become a U.S. citizen, how does that help my children who are legal permanent residents?
Your children under 18 years of age automatically become citizens, but, you must fill out the N-600 Form in order to receive a Certificate of Citizenship and register the change in their status with the USCIS.

http://ciudadania.yaeshora.info/faqs?id=0011

U.S. Warns Schools Against Checking Immigration Status

By KIRK SEMPLEMAY 6, 2011

Federal officials issued a memorandum to the nation’s school districts on Friday saying it was against the law for education officials to seek information that might reveal the immigration status of children applying for enrollment.

Civil liberties advocates and others have complained in recent months that many school districts are seeking children’s immigration papers as a prerequisite for enrollment. Some state and local officials have also considered bills to require prospective students to reveal their citizenship or immigration status.

“We have become aware of student enrollment practices that may chill or discourage the participation, or lead to the exclusion, of students based on their or their parents’ or guardians’ actual or perceived citizenship or immigration status,” said the memo, from Justice and Education Department officials. “These practices contravene federal law.”

The letter cited a 1982 Supreme Court decision that recognized the right of all children, regardless of immigration status, to attend public school as long as they met the age and residency requirements set by state law.

“The undocumented or noncitizen status of a student (or his or her parent or guardian) is irrelevant to that student’s entitlement to an elementary and secondary public school education,” said the memo, signed by Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the civil rights division of the Justice Department; Russlynn H. Ali, assistant secretary for civil rights in the Education Department; and Charles P. Rose, that department’s general counsel.

Xochitl Hinojosa, a Justice Department spokeswoman, said it was the first time her agency had issued guidance to school districts on the 1982 decision. The Education Department did not return calls seeking comment.

Civil liberties advocates, who had been asking President Obama’s administration to clarify the law, hailed the memo. “We’re gratified that the Department of Justice has seen fit to do the right thing, to clarify any ambiguities,” said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, calling the guidance “a really big deal.”

Last year, Ms. Lieberman’s group found that 139 districts in New York State — about 20 percent of the total — were requiring children’s immigration papers as a prerequisite to enrollment, or asking parents for information that only lawful immigrants could provide.

While the group did not find any cases in which children had been turned away for lack of immigration paperwork, it warned that the requirements could deter illegal immigrant families from enrolling children for fear that their status might be reported to federal authorities.

After months of pressure from the civil liberties group, the state’s Education Department sent school districts a memo strongly recommending that they not ask for information that might reveal the immigration status of enrolling students. State education officials in Maryland, New Jersey, Illinois and Nebraska have taken steps in recent years to halt similar practices, immigrant advocates said.

Despite the New York memo, some school districts there continued to press for the right to ask about immigration status, said Udi Ofer, advocacy director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.

In Arizona, state lawmakers have considered a bill that would require the state’s Education Department to determine the number of public school students who are unable to prove lawful presence in the United States, officials said. Last year, a legislative committee in Oklahoma favored a bill to require public schools to determine, at the time of enrollment, whether a child was born outside the United States.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/07/ed...n/07immig.html

Immigrant Students' Rights to Attend Public Schools

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Plyler vs. Doe (457 U.S. 202 (1982)) that undocumented children and young adults have the same right to attend public primary and secondary schools as do U.S. citizens and permanent residents. Like other children, undocumented students are obliged under state law to attend school until they reach a mandated age. As a result of the Plyler ruling, public schools may not: Deny admission to a student during initial enrollment or at any other time on the basis of undocumented status. Treat a student differently to determine residency. Engage in any practices to "chill" the right of access to school. Require students or parents to disclose or document their immigration status. Make inquiries of students or parents that may expose their undocumented status. Require social security numbers from all students, as this may expose undocumented status. Students without social security numbers should be assigned a number generated by the school. Adults without social security numbers who are applying for a free lunch and/or breakfast program on behalf of a student need only indicate on the application that they do not have a social security number. Changes in the F-1 (Student) Visa Program do not alter the Plyler obligations to undocumented children. These changes apply only to students who apply for a student visa from outside the U.S. Finally, school personnel -- especially building principals and those involved with student intake activities -- should be aware that they have no legal obligation to enforce U.S. immigration laws. (U.S. Supreme Court, 1982) More information: May 8, 2014 Dear Colleague Letter U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education letter. This letter provides information to SEAs, LEAs, and parents about the requirement to provide all children with equal access to public education at the elementary and secondary level. Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 Wikipedia link. In Plyler v. Doe, the Court found that states must educate children of undocumented immigrants, interpreting the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to apply to anyone who lives in the U.S., regardless of citizenship. Lau v. Nichols, 414 U.S. 563 Wikipedia link. In Lau v. Nichols, the Court found that school districts not providing their limited English proficient students with language-assistance programs were violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Lau v. Nichols mandates special language assistance to all limited English proficient children. Help Ensure that Immigrant Students Have Access to Educational Opportunities English-Spanish handout For more information about this and other civil rights in schools, contact the Equity and Civil Rights Office.

Updated 3/24/2015

http://www.k12.wa.us/MigrantBilingua...antRights.aspx