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 Plyler v. Doe December 1, 1981 - June 15, 1982

__**FACTS:**__ In May 1975, the Texas Legislature changed its laws concerning education so that local school districts did not receive funds to educate children who were not "legally admitted" into the United States. It also allowed districts to deny enrollment to students based on their legal status. The state of Texas felt that the influx of illegal immigrants would ruin their schools and that the funds given to them should be used to educate only those students who were legally living in the United States. The case was fought between James Plyler, the superintendent of the Tyler Independent School District, and John Doe, a group of named and unnamed illegal immigrant students. The case went to the supreme court in December, 1981 and was decided in June, 1982.

The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment states that "no state shall...deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."  __**LEGAL ISSUES:**__ Does the revision to the education laws in Texas violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?  __**RULING:**__ Yes. The court ruled that illegal aliens and their children, although they may not be United States citizens, are people in every sense of the term, and are therefore afforded the protections under the Fourteenth Amendment. The court struck down the law because it severely disadvantages the children of illegal aliens.  __**IMPLICATIONS:**__ Since the court ruled that the law violated the Fourteenth Amendment, states can no longer withhold a tuition-free public education from children if they are illegal aliens. Based on this ruling, school officials may not require children to prove that they are in this country legally by asking for documents (green cards, citizenship papers, etc.). The only requirement needed is proof that the child lives within the school district attendance zone, just as they would for any other student. Schools may only ask for information from parents and students in order to determine if students are eligible for various programs, such as Emergency Immigrant Education, bilingual education programs, Headstart programs, special education, free and reduced meal programs, etc. Schools are not allowed to require undocumented students or their parents to apply for Social Security numbers; if applications must be handed out, then it must be explained properly to the parents that they are not required to fill them out. To sum it all up, this court case implies that all undocumented students must have access to an appropriate and tuition-free education just like every other student in this country.  __**SOURCES:**__ [|Wikipedia Plyler v. Doe] [|The Oyez Project, Plyler v. Doe] [|Wikipedia Equal Protection Clause] [|Data on the Undocumented] [|DREAM Act Club at Bronx Lab School] [|Plyler vs. Doe 1982]