Trump aides wanted to block illegal immigrant children from enrolling in public schools

Aug. 17, 2019
by Caitlin Yilek

Top aides to President Trump tried to find a way to allow states to block illegal immigrant children from enrolling in public schools.

White House senior adviser Stephen Miller spearheaded the effort as early as 2017, pressuring Cabinet officials and other White House officials to try and find a way to limit the enrollment of illegal immigrant children, Bloomberg reported.

Miller wanted the Department of Education to issue a guidance memo telling states they could refuse to admit undocumented students from kindergarten through high school.

“The memo wasn’t issued because the secretary would never consider it,” Education Department spokeswoman Liz Hill said in a statement.

The push was abandoned after the aides were told it did not align with a 1982 Supreme Court case, Plyler v. Doe, guaranteeing access to public schools.

About 725,000 undocumented students from kindergarten through high school were enrolled in public and private schools in 2014, according to a Pew Research Center study. Spending on the students could exceed $8 billion annually, according to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau earlier this year.

The strategy falls in line with the administration’s efforts to crack down on illegal immigration. Earlier this week, the administration announced it could block immigrants from becoming permanent residents if they had used Medicaid, public housing assistance, or food stamps for more than 12 months over a three-year period.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/n...public-schools