Undocumented immigrants children have a right to education.
Imagine, for several months, some of the divisors of the current president Donald Trump have been seeking legal measures to give local states the power to deny children of undocumented parents access to primary and subsidized public education. In a report, the Education Department had issued a government guidelines memo that would direct states whether they had an option to denied such students a chance to attend public school from lower primary to high school. My goal in this paper is to prove that undocumented immigrants children have a right to education.
Such a radical law change has been implemented in states like Alabama requiring schools to inquire about the immigration status of students before enrollment, something that has caused a significant reduction in the number of Hispanic students of local classrooms. Restrictive laws like such seeking to curtail individuals’ fundamental rights without papers make their lives difficult as it makes them hard to construct, find legal employment, rent, or buy homes and access to government services, including health and sanitation.
Discrimination is unlawful and unacceptable both in the local and international contexts, as public schools must enroll students regardless of their immigration status. According to the Intercultural Development Research Association(IDRA), the model that seeks to deny undocumented children free education does not cure the problem of illegal immigration. (Janice 615) It over promotes the notion of systematic discrimination as the literary rates among the communities with such children is significantly reduced, and the general return to the community mi minimized.
Since time immemorial, the United States of America has been a significant recipient of many children from unsafe and war-torn countries. Once in America, such children, especially pre-teen ones, are pushed towards the separate and unequal alternative educational program. While the federal government has a right to protect itself from the increased influx of illegal immigrants into its borders, there is no evidence suggesting that such immigrants’ main reason to move into America illegally is to seek free primary education.
The exclusion of children of illegal immigrants cannot also be proved beyond any reasonable doubt to work towards reducing the burden of such government from the high costs of providing free education significantly ( Alkana et al.) According to Justice Blackburn, the provision of training for others will deny a section because of their nationality. It immediately creates a state of class barriers that goes inevitably against the spirit of the 14th Amendment clause of Equal Protection.
In the case of Brown v Board of Education(1954) brought about by African American children seeking admission in public schools during the segregation period that was found to have violated the equal protection clause. Judge Warren, in hi final decisions, remarked that separate educational facilities could never be similar.
According to the National Association of Secondary School Principles. ( NASSP) each child is entitled to an excellent public education to equip them with the necessary skills to succeed. A strong educational background provides a child with underlying future security and stability. Whenever a child receives a good education, the community and nation at large are impacted positively. Immigrants children form a large number of the current public communities, therefore, encouraging the implementation of laws that ensure that these children have access to the appropriate education.
The constitution provides an equal protection clause for all children within the American territory. The illegal nature of these children parents residency does not give a rationale to negate their children right to equal state protection
This Supreme Court in the United States in their landmark decision in the case of Plyer v. Doe held that children of undocumented immigrants have similar and equal rights to free public education just like any other children in America. District schools have aright to ask students for birth certificates during enrollments; however, such documents may not be used as the basis of refusing to enroll such students into the public school system. ( Perreira et al. 137) The bench decision negated laws created by oppressive states like Texas, who had denied funding for local public schools that provided primary education to children of undocumented immigrants. Federal laws prohibit local district education administrators and their staff from reporting undocumented students to immigration authorities. It is a criminal violation against the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act to disclose the details of a student’s education to the public without the consent of a guardian.
Children of illegal immigrants face serious challenges accessing the appropriate education. Several state laws have been developed to curtail the education rights of immigrant children by administrators seeking to establish mechanisms to bar them from being knowledgeable. ( 161) One primary barrier to such children is the difficulties they face during enrollment, subject to proof of residency. Other jurisdictions have also created illegal measures on parents of such children to provide social security numbers to facilitate admissions. Generally, anybody who is undocumented will not have a social security number.
Despite being illegal, several attempts have been made by the justice department to remind such administrations that their actions are unlawful.
Works Cited
Alfred, Janice. “Denial of the American dream: The plight of undocumented high school students within the US educational system.” NYL Sch. J. Hum. Rts. 19, (2003): 615.
Alexander, Kern, and M. David Alexander. American public school law. Cengage Learning, 2011.
Perreira, Krista M., Lisa Kiang, and Stephanie Potochnick. “Ethnic Discrimination: Identifying and intervening in its effects on the education of immigrant children.” US immigration and education: Cultural and policy issues across the lifespan(2013): 137-161.