http://www.myfox8.com/news/wghp-story-i ... 8276.story
Winston-Salem Journal

8:18 a.m. EDT, June 1, 2011
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.— State Rep. Dale Folwell, R-Forsyth, said Tuesday that legislation he proposed would keep track of illegal immigrants in public schools with the overarching goal of stemming the flow of illegal immigration to North Carolina, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.

"We are having to make tough choices about what roads get paved, what folks get medical attention, what school teachers are going to have jobs … and how we're going to pay for them. And $1 spent on an illegal immigrant in any phase of government is a dollar taken away from somebody who's here legally," Folwell told the paper.

Topics

Illegal Immigrants
Migration
Immigration
See more topics »

XJuvenile Delinquency
Crimes
Labor Legislation
Newspaper and Magazine
North Carolina
Schools
Public Schools
Minority Groups
Raleigh
U.S. Department of Education
U.S. Supreme Court Folwell's bill, known as HB744, would require principals to ask parents of new students to say whether the child is a U.S. citizen, and if not, to give the student's immigration status. The bill says that the information on immigration status would be used only for fiscal analysis and not to deny admission to any student.

All children are entitled to a public education, including children who are in the United States illegally, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1982.

That principle was reinforced in May, when the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights sent a letter warning school districts not to let enrollment policies lead to the exclusion of students based on their immigration status.

"You must ensure that you do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin, and that students are not barred from enrolling in public schools at the elementary and secondary levels on the basis of their own citizenship or immigration status," the letter reads.

The Folwell bill says it would not bar any child from getting an education, but Hispanic advocacy groups said it could have other consequences.

"Requiring children to register their immigration status with their schools will inevitably result in discrimination, harassment or exclusion. Plain and simple, the legislators who support these bills are unprincipled cowards," said a press release from the Raleigh-based N.C. Dream Team, an immigrant-rights youth advocacy group.

Folwell said, however, that policies must change to prevent illegal immigrants from choosing North Carolina as their home.

"The main thing I want is to answer the question: What policies are there at the state level that are making North Carolina a magnet for illegal immigration?" Folwell said. "I want to demagnetize this state."

This was the sixth time Folwell has introduced the bill in the four terms he has served in the state General Assembly.

Source: The Winston-Salem Journal