Testing Plyler v. Doe (1982): Oklahoma proposal requires parents to provide immigration status when enrolling students

Oklahoma flag image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

News from Oklahoma, which may be joining the Trump immigration enforcement bandwagon!

The Sean Murphy for the Chicago Tribune reports that

“[p]arents enrolling children in Oklahoma public schools will be required to provide proof of their child’s U.S. citizenship or legal immigration status under a proposal rule approved today the State Board of Education.

The board voted unanimously to approve the rule aimed at helping President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. It requires approval by the Legislature and the governor.

Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters, the state’s education chief, said the rule is needed to help schools gather information about where to place staff and resources. `Our rule around illegal immigration accounting is simply that,’ Walters said. `It is to account for how many students of illegal immigrants are in our schools.’”

The proposed rule would not prevent students without legal status from enrolling or keep them from attending school.

Hundreds of students and protesters gathered outside the administration building to protest the board’s decision.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1982 held that Texas could not bar undocumented students from a K-12 education.

Superintendent Walters has supports efforts by President Trump to enforce immigration laws and would allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents into Oklahoma schools. “Schools are crippled by the flood of illegal immigrants and the Biden/Harris open border policy,” Walters said in a statement. “Oklahomans and the country elected President Trump and we will do everything possible to help put Oklahoma students first.”

In Plyler v. Doe (2982), the Supreme Court. by a 5-4 vote, invalidated a Texas law that denied children an education based on their immigration status.  The Court said that Texas had not shown that thge costs of providing an education was substantial and excessive.

KJ