Kaitlin's+Blog

"School District Blocks 5 Children of Illegal Immigrants from Classes"

The Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe deals with illegal immigrant children and their right to a free and appropriate education in America. The court ruled that the law violated the Fourteen Amendment and that from then on no state shall hold a free and appropriate education from any child. With this ruling the court also stated that school officials can not require children to prove that they are in this country legally by asking for any kinds of documents (i.e. green cards, citizenship papers, etc.). The only requirement a child needs to be a student is proof of address; they need to provide proof that they live within the school districts attendance zone, just like every other student.

The article that I found, “School District Blocks 5 Children of Illegal Immigrants From Classes” by Maria Newman, is about a family who with five children who were denied an education in a school in Fairview because they were illegal immigrants. The district superintendent found out that the parents of the children were in the country illegally on expired tourist visas he removed the children from the school. The superintendent argued that they do not go around to the schools looking for children to kick out but in this case it was brought to their attention that the family was here illegally and they could not ignore it. He said that by ignoring the fact he would be in violation of federal rules. The Lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union's Immigrants' Rights Project offered to help the family. They are arguing that the school had no right to ask for paper work and that asking the parents about their immigration status was illegal in the first place. The lawyers are also arguing that law states that the children should be allowed an education from the school in Fairview as long as they live in the school districts zone. In the end the principal agreed to let the students back into school. However, since the superintendent had not agreed with it the students were not allowed back.

In my opinion, I agree with the lawyers and think that the superintendent was wrong. By not allowing these children an education he is violating the law anyway. Even if the parents are here illegally, the law clearly states that these children have the right to an education; this was the courts ruling in the Plyler v. Doe case. I also think that it is interesting that two of the children went to school there the year before and had no problem. And now, just because their other family members are starting to attend they are being kicked out. When the other two children started school they were given the right to attend and the parents would have had to give the school the paperwork showing they lived in the area. If there was a problem why wasn’t it brought up at that point? The children that come into America with their parents have no choice, and in most cases it is to give them a better life. We should not punish the children by denying them of an education, but we should educate them and help them achieve their goals, just like we would any other child. All of these children, regardless if they are “legal or illegal”, are our future. By denying them of an education we will only be hurting ourselves in the long run.

[|School District Blocks 5 Children of Illegal Immigrants from Classes]