U.S. Oklahoma Moves to Ask Immigration Status in Public School Enrollment
People protesting against mass deportations, U.S., Jan. 2025. X/ @KABBFOX29
January 29, 2025 Hour: 7:53 am
In 1982, however, the Supreme Court held that states cannot deny students public education because of their immigration status.
On Tuesday, the State Board of Education of Oklahoma voted to advance a rule requiring parents to report immigration or citizenship status when enrolling students in public schools.
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The rule, approved by 6-0 unanimously, must be approved by the governor and the state legislature to take effect in the landlocked south-central U.S. state.
If approved, the rule would require each school district to record the number of students whose parent or guardian cannot provide proof of citizenship or legal immigration status “due to the lack of citizenship or legal immigration status of the student.”
“Our rule around illegal immigration accounting is simply that. It is to account for how many students of illegal immigrants are in our schools,” said Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters, a Republican member of the board.
Dozens of students protested Walters’ policies in Oklahoma City, calling for keeping deportation agents off school campuses. “All children have a constitutional right to equal access to education regardless of their citizenship or immigration status,” the National Immigration Law Center said.
U.S. President Donald Trump last week issued a directive allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to arrest people in schools. Walters said Oklahoma plans to comply with Trump’s move.
Current U.S. law on immigrants in schools stems from the 1982 Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe. In a 5-4 vote, the court held that states cannot constitutionally deny students a free public education because of their immigration status, citing the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
teleSUR/ JF Source: Xinhua
