From Plyler to Sanctuary: Implications for U.S. Educators of Transnational Students

• In Event: 66.050 - The Students We Share: Preparing U.S. and Mexican Educators for Our Transnational Future

Abstract

Schools, districts, and individual educators play important roles protecting the legal rights of immigrant students and their families. This paper summarizes legal and policy trends shaping the experience of immigrant-background students in the United States. It reviews the history of key legal frameworks protecting immigrant background students. The paper focuses, in particular, on Plyler v. Doe, a 1982 court case ensuring the right to free public education regardless of immigration status, and how the fourth amendment and FERPA—among other protections—form the legal foundation for state and district responses to increased immigration enforcement. In addition to historical analysis, the paper draws on policy documents and media reports.

At a time of great uncertainty in U.S. immigration policy, the longstanding principle of equal access to education protects the rights of students from an immigrant background in the U.S. public school system. Although the protections offered by schools do not override law enforcement, it has long been recognized that protecting the right of all students to access public education means ensuring that families view schools as safe and welcoming places. Whereas federal immigration policy can distinguish between the lawfully and unlawfully present, schools are not permitted to make such distinctions.

In the last five years, the media have documented numerous attempts by schools and districts—both outright and indirect—to prevent or discourage unauthorized immigrant student enrollment. In other cases, school staff improperly referred older immigrant students—including some with legal status—to alternative or adult education programs that did not provide equivalent services to those offered in comprehensive high schools (Booi, et al, 2016; Burke & Sainz, 2016). Drawing on federal guidance (Lhamon, Rosenfelt, & Samuels, 2014), many states and districts issued specific policy and procedural guidelines to district and school staff that work directly with families in the enrollment process to prevent such discrimination.

In a related vein, a number of districts across the country declared themselves sanctuary districts or safe havens in response to increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement activity in many communities. The specifics of each declaration differed, but most included a policy that schools would not cooperate with immigration enforcement officers unless they had a warrant, subpoena, or court order; outlined processes for school staff to comply with law enforcement requests; and limited the kinds of information related to immigration status that schools and districts can collect. These declarations are aimed at reassuring families that they should continue to send their children to school regardless of their or their children’s immigration status (Hanson, Cheer, & Broder, 2017).

With immigrant communities increasingly fearful of immigration enforcement, advocates have noted that Plyler and sanctuary district declarations are two significant policy tools schools and districts can leverage to ensure that unauthorized immigrant students and families can access the educational services to which they are legally entitled. Knowledge of legal and policy responses is a critical piece of educator preparation and professional development for teachers who will serve transnational students.

Author

• Julie Sugarman, Migration Policy Institute