Immigrant right to education reaffirmed: Column
It's never too late to learn.
Last week, Attorney General Eric Holder reminded school districts that they are responsible for educating all children, including undocumented immigrants and the children of undocumented immigrants. Together the Education and Justice departments have issued guidelines to ensure that school districts are in compliance with federal law. Attempts to exclude immigrants from our schools, Holder said, "weaken our nation … by leaving young people unprepared and ill-equipped to succeed and contribute to what is, in many cases, the only home they have ever known."
According to the Department of Homeland Security, there are 1.1 million undocumented children under 18 living in the U.S., while a 2011 Pew Research Center report found there were 4.5 million U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants.
The announcement is welcome news for the Latino community. Not only do undocumented children have a right to a public education thanks to the 1982 Supreme Court decision in Plyler v. Doe, it is smart public policy as well.
Yet some school districts have been asking parents for their Social Security numbers or driver's licenses before they enroll their children. These questions are illegal, because undocumented immigrants are likely to lack these types of documentation and may be discouraged from enrolling their children in school. So the Justice Department is providing school districts with a list of documents that they can request of parents, like copies of bills or lease agreements (to meet residency requirements) and affidavits or prior school records (for proof of age).
Not everyone thinks the move is a good idea. Roy Beck, president of Numbers USA, an organization that wants to reduce immigration, told USA TODAY that, "It just seems to send a message to the world, 'We are here to protect those who break immigration laws and we're going to do almost nothing to enforce it."
Beck overlooks the fact that these children did not break the law. Why should they be punished for the actions of their parents? If these children were not in school, they could be at risk for crime, gang activity, drug abuse, or worse. Since it may take years for our immigration debate to be settled, in the meantime it serves society's interests that all school-age children are in school.
National Review Online columnists Peter Kirsanow and Carissa Mulder also criticize the initiative, calling it "part of the administration's ongoing effort to gut immigration law and normalize illegal immigration." But they are unwisely conflating immigration policy and education policy. While the former may be broken, the latter can be fixed. Kirsanow and Mulder write that since a judge struck down an Alabama law requiring that school districts check the immigration status of students, "no state checks the immigration status of school children." They are correct, but many school districts have continued to erect barriers to immigrant children.
The Justice Department told the New York Times that since 2011 that they have received 17 complaints that led to legal action against school districts for discriminating against immigrant children. In the last few years, school districts in New Jersey, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, California and Florida have had to adjust their policies to comply with the law. In fact, many school districts may not realize that they are breaking the law when they require certain documents from prospective students.
True, the more children that are in public schools, the more it costs taxpayers. But undocumented immigrants pay taxes like everyone else. The nonpartisan Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy found that undocumented immigrants paid $10.6 billion in state and local taxes in 2010. Educating undocumented immigrants means they will be able to improve their lives, contribute more fully to society and assimilate more quickly, by learning English and American values. That's a net gain for everyone.
The Justice Department should be commended for reaffirming the rights of all children to access public education. The goal of U.S. school districts should not be to intimidate potential students, but to welcome and educate them.
Raul Reyes is an attorney in New York and a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors.
In addition to its own editorials, USA TODAY publishes diverse opinions from outside writers, including ourBoard of Contributors. To read more columns like this, go to the opinion front page or follow us on twitter @USATopinion or Facebook.