The Oklahoma State Board of Education on Tuesday approved a proposal requiring parents to report their immigration status or proof of citizenship when enrolling their children in public schools.
The board voted unanimously to approve the proposed administrative rule, which still needs to be approved by the state Legislature and the governor before it can take effect. The controversial rule would require a parent or a child’s legal guardian to provide proof of U.S. citizenship at the time of enrollment.
The proposed rule would not prevent students from enrolling based on their legal status. In a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Plyler v. Doe, the court said all students had the right to enroll in public schools without regard to the immigration status of themselves or their parents or guardians.
But according to the proposal, school districts would be required to “submit only information of the total number of students that lack of documentation, excluding any personally identifiable information to the Oklahoma State Department of Education.”
“Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit, or inhibit, any child from receiving the education they are entitled to receive under the United States Constitution, the Oklahoma Constitution, or state or federal law,” the proposal says. “No data outlined in this Section shall be used to record an individual student’s citizenship status or legal immigration status.”
The proposal comes amid a rise in fear and anxiety across schools in the U.S. after the Trump administration authorized federal authorities last week to conduct immigration arrests on school campuses. The move was among a flurry of changes tied to immigration and refugee admissions.
The proposed rule immediately received some backlash with Nicholas Espíritu, deputy legal director at the National Immigration Law Center, calling it a “direct violation of the rights and freedoms of Oklahomans” and a “clear attempt to instill terror in communities across the state.”
“All children living in the United States, regardless of their immigration status or that of their parents, have the right to attend K-12 public school,” Espíritu said in a statement. “Requiring school districts to prove parents’ citizenship illegally chills access to this opportunity and interferes with schools’ ability to focus on their core mission: to educate children and give all students the ability to grow, thrive, and participate fully in our democracy.”