Thread: OPINION:Citizenship checks rightly illegal at schools

Opinion
Citizenship checks rightly illegal at schools
Our view: Refusing to educate children without documentation solves no problem
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 04.29.2009
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Arizona public schools must not become an arm of law enforcement, which would happen if an idea floated by Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik becomes reality.

Dupnik told a U.S. Senate panel on border security that schools should be able to ask a child to prove his or her legal immigration status before enrolling in a public school.

Turning school personnel into immigration police would do little to solve the real problem of a broken U.S. immigration policy.

Dupnik said in an interview Tuesday morning that, regardless of his personal opinions on the matter, the Sheriff's Department is not changing policy or planning to take any action.

"We're not going to go to schools, not going to do immigration sweeps — I'm not trying to emulate (Maricopa County Sheriff) Joe Arpaio," he said. "I was merely trying to point out why we have extraordinary problems that we have to deal with and I wanted Washington to have a reality lesson."

Dupnik said schools should require that students prove they are U.S. citizens or in the country legally before they're allowed to enroll. If they can't, then school officials would report the family to federal immigration authorities.

"It's a complex, complicated issue and we have to look at all of the aspects related to border security," he said. "I think we need to do everything we can to discourage people from coming here. When a substantial number of students are here illegally, I think that directly relates to border security and many of the social problems, including crime, that we have to look at."

Schools are prohibited by a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision from asking students to prove legal residence. Even if they weren't bound by law, schools have no business trying to determine anyone's citizenship or immigration status. Doing so would violate the philosophy and usefulness of a free public education, and the ripple effects would be felt throughout our communities.

Turning school officials into immigration agents would not do much to stem illegal immigration. It is true that students who are in the country illegally do attend Arizona schools and, yes, they do cost taxpayers money.

That must be weighed against the greater cost of creating an underclass of children who live in our community but are barred from attending school. Crime, vandalism and poverty are also linked strongly with a lack of education.

We also do not believe that throngs of undocumented immigrants would return to their home country because their children can't go to school.

Dupnik's complete turnaround on this issue is startling. In 1996 he said, "This country needs to do more to protect its borders. But they need to do it in a humanitarian, logical way. Not allowing children to go to school isn't the logical answer."

He was right.

Dupnik now says he thinks it's time for a test case to challenge the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision.

However, trying to overturn the high court's decision is a gamble and it's a long-term gamble. No decision could possibly be reached in time to fix Arizona's budget problems.

Scaring parents from sending their children to school is not sound public policy.

We share Dupnik's frustration that the federal government has failed to fix the country's immigration policy. But punishing children for their parents' decisions, and the shortcomings of the U.S. government, is not the American way.

140 Comments on this story
http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/290606

Turning school officials into immigration agents would not do much to stem illegal immigration. It is true that students who are in the country illegally do attend Arizona schools and, yes, they do cost taxpayers money.

If parents are illegal students are illegal and vice versa.

As usual these anti-American libs are wrong.

The Supreme Court ruled we have to educate illegals minors only because the US was not at the time deporting their parents or preventing them from working. If I'm not mistaken Arizona is now preventing many if not most illegals from working, Sheriff Joe is rounding up and having illegals deported, so it follows that Arizona can also legally prevent illegals from going to school.

School districts are starving for budget money to build and educate the exploding population. Their budget usually depends on how many kids are in the seats, not whether they are even here legally. After all, it is only dumb taxpaying citizens who provide that money to our wise legislators to spend as they see fit.

No, they are not illegal. Any government agency -- not just law enforcement agencies -- can check the immigration status of individuals. It is not illegal to check immigration status.

Dixie

A couple of years ago on a daily basis I watched families of Illegals bring their little ILLEGALS and/or ANCHORS to school and they would all troop into the school for "their" free meal, the "student" would stay at school and the "rest" would scurry out to their cars hauling cartons milk and juice and food wrapped in napkins! Do you think that United States Citizens should be paying for the meal of the ILLEGAL "student" and the "student's" entire family of ILLEGALS that would only benefit the ILLEGAL EMPLOYERS? Of course you do if you are an Elitist Political Contributor of another Special Interest Group that has their "bottom line" improved because the Citizens pay the benefits for the ILLEGAL EMPLOYERS' ILLEGALS!!!!