Rankin County 09/05/08
Undocumented immigrants can enter the Mississippi School System

Posted: Sep 5, 2008 08:04 PM CDT

Updated: Sep 5, 2008 10:26 PM CDT

Undocumented Immigrants can enter the Mississippi School System








By Monica Hernandez
monica@wlbt.net

The recent immigration and customs enforcement raid on Howard Industries in Laurel brought many issues to light.

Investigators with the Attorney General's office are looking into whether the company violated a new state law last month when nearly 600 illegal immigrants were taken into custody.

The law, which went into effect in July, requires public and private employers to use the U.S. Department of Homeland Security E-Verify System to check the immigration status of new workers.

If found in violation, Howard Industries could loose its public contract for up to three years and the right to do business in Mississippi for a year.

Company owners could face five years in state prison and a fine up to $10,000.

Officials say about 100 students were not in school after the raid, possibly for fear of being turned into authorities.

Which raises the question, how are undocumented immigrants able to enroll in Mississippi schools?

Soletai Arellano says she would have been lost if she hadn't been able to enroll in school when her family immigrated illegally to the United States. She was nine years old.

"That was really important to me to go to college, and I feel like if they told me I had to quit school, that would ruin my life," says Arellano.

She's since become a U.S. citizen, working as an office assistant for the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance, or MIRA. But her situation brings the question, 'How are undocumented immigrants able to enroll in U.S. public schools?'

All children have the right to enter classrooms because of Plyler vs. Doe, a U.S. Supreme Court case that gives undocumented immigrants the right to a free public education.

"Most children have no control over the circumstances of how they got into the U.S., so we have to make an investment into all of our children", said Patricia Ice, MIRA Project."

To enroll in the state's public schools, students are required to provide proof of residency, age, and immunization records, but no proof of citizenship. Parents we spoke with had mixed emotions.

"All children need a chance to have an education, but I think everyone should be a U.S. citizen," said Brenda Parker, Pearl resident.

"I feel that children should get an education. I think that's what we should be putting first," said Angela Wright, Pearl resident.

As an English language learners teacher at Richland Lower Elementary, Barbara Chirinos has a strong stance on the law.

"We have to educate, not enforce the immigration law, so I don't think we should be put in that position," Chirinos said.

officials say it's difficult to tell how many undocumented immigrants are enrolled in Mississippi schools because they aren't required to verify citizenship. But MIRA estimates the number is in the thousands.

In 2006, Mississippi public schools spent over $7,000 in state and local tax payer money on each student.




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