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by Anonymous on April 12th, 2006

Anonymous

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Are children of illegal immigrants required to attend school?

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  • by PommyMommy on April 12th, 2006

    PommyMommy

    School attendance is generally a federal law with regard to minors, however, individual States can and do pass legislation that interprets this. If you home-school your children, they are still being educated (I presume) and many states that allow home-schooling have mandatory testing of these home-schooled students. In regards to illegal immigrants and their undocumented children:

    In 1982, 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 required under state laws to attend school until they reach a legally 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; or
    * 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 for a student need only state on the application that they do not have a social security number.

    Recent changes in the F-1 (student) Visa Program do not change the Plyler rights of undocumented children. These changes apply only to students who apply for a student visa from outside the United States and are currently in the United States on an F-1 visa.

    Also, the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) prohibits schools from providing any outside agency – including the Immigration and Naturalization Service – with any information from a child’s school file that would expose the student’s undocumented status without first getting permission from the student’s parents. The only exception is if an agency gets a court order (subpoena) that parents can then challenge. Schools should note that even requesting such permission from parents might act to “chill” a student’s Plyler rights.

    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.

    Edit: PhilDoc is exactly right in his comment. I neglected to leave out the site where I got most of this information. Fortunately, this is not an error I generally make as I always want to give the credit where it is due. I may know the answer to a question but it is very helpful to be able to find a site that expresses it much more thoroughly than I could. Thank you for making me aware of my omission Phil.

    Comments

    • exceptional, excellent and informative answer. now, i know, thanks

      Anonymous

      by Anonymous on April 13th, 2006

    • great answer!

      xoxojuli

      by xoxojuli on April 14th, 2006

    • PhilDoc

      by PhilDoc on April 30th, 2006

    • THANK YOU!!!! I'm currently enrolled in a Legal Rights course of ELL and your response REALLY helped! Why deny the kids of the opportunity to succeed in the land of opportunity??? Legal/Illegal who's to say "You cannot learn???" Kudos on the response!!!!

      taliapanama

      by taliapanama on March 20th, 2010

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