All Children Have a Right to Learn
Immigration status should not be a factor in whether children can attend school.

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Maria Dominguez was 9 years old when she came to the U.S. from Mexico, brought here by her widowed mother who sought work to support her four children. She entered fourth grade not speaking English, feeling isolated. She cried, a lot. But, as the years passed, Maria immersed herself in school, sports and activities, including Air Force ROTC.
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Donald Trump Says DREAMers Can Stay ]Now, Maria is an outstanding first-grade bilingual teacher in the Austin Independent School District who successfully applied for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status. She is also a leader in her joint NEA-AFT local union's efforts to support, protect and educate every child who walks through the doors of her public school.
Maria's path to opportunity was enabled by the Supreme Court's landmark ruling in the Plyler v. Doe case in which the Court held that states cannot constitutionally deny K-12 students a free public education on account of their immigration status.
In its decision, the court pointed out it is in the best interests of our nation to provide children like Maria the opportunity to learn. "By denying these children a basic education," the majority wrote, "we deny them the ability to live within the structure of our civic institutions, and foreclose any realistic possibility that they will contribute in even the smallest way to the progress of our Nation."
Thirty-five years later, the protections granted to our children through this ruling are now being chipped away. A study last year by the Georgetown University Law Center's Human Rights Institute, with the Women's Refugee Commission, found that many youth in the country without legal status in Texas, North Carolina and elsewhere have been denied or discouraged from enrolling in school.
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Immigration Cartoons ]And many students who are enrolled in school are now too afraid to attend – with good reason. Just last week, a 19-year-old Ossining, N.Y., high school student was taken into custody on the day of his prom. And who can forget the wailing of the 13-year-old girl whose father was handcuffed and taken away by Immigration and Customs Enforcement during their routine ride to school? In just the first two months of the Trump administration, more than 20,000 immigrants were taken into custody, an increase of 32 percent over the previous year. Federal records showed that half of the immigrants arrested had no criminal record, or only traffic offenses. These increased enforcement actions are creating unhealthy learning environments and communities. The social, emotional and physical impact is palpable and seeping into our classrooms.
As educators and as the leaders of the nation's two largest education unions, we take seriously our obligation as a nation to provide all children with a public education that enables them to not only dream their dreams but also achieve them. We believe we are a stronger nation when we welcome to our classrooms our future scientists, police officers, researchers, pharmacists and teachers no matter where they came from.
Our nation was built through the strong contributions of immigrants like our parents and grandparents and we cannot turn our backs on the next generation. We cannot deny any child who calls our nation home the opportunity to learn and thrive.
Together, and with the millions of educators we represent, we condemn the deportations and reject the attacks on our students and their families. We call on every public official to uphold the law of the land, as set forth 35 years ago in Plyler, and provide an equal opportunity for education to every child, regardless of his or her immigration status. The job of public education officials is to protect our students and our Constitution. We have an obligation to all children. That is why educators around the country are working with school boards to pass Safe Zones resolutions to affirm the very principals and commitment to uphold Plyler v. Doe and to provide school employees with clear protocols to create welcoming and safe learning environments for their students.
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Both Sides of the U.S.-Mexico Border ]The Georgetown report, Ensuring Every Undocumented Student Succeeds, includes specific recommendations that we support. For example, the federal departments of Homeland Security and Education should work together to make sure immigration enforcement efforts do not disrupt children's access to education. Local school districts should be flexible in their paperwork requirements, making it easier – not harder – for students in the nation without legal status to show their residency and guardianships. We must follow not just the letter of the law, but also its spirit. This means opening not just our schools, but our hearts to all of our students. It means understanding that our future success as a nation depends on listening to teachers who tell us their classroom discussions very often are focused these days on the fears of children that their parents or siblings will be deported.
If we as a nation turn our back on these children and allow the protections guaranteed by the Plyler case to be chipped away, we will be shutting out the next Maria Dominguez, or the next Sergei Brin, Albert Einstein, Isabel Allende or Madeleine Albright.
Tags: immigration, DREAM Act, students, K-12 education