Parents enrolling children in Oklahoma public schools would be required to provide proof of their child's U.S. citizenship or legal immigration status under a proposal aimed at helping President Donald Trump's immigration policies.
The proposed rules, which Oklahoma's education board was set to vote on Tuesday, are in the early stages and would still need approval from lawmakers and the governor to take effect. The proposal from Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters, the state's education chief, would not prohibit students without legal status from attending schools but would require districts to keep a tally.
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1982 affirmed the right of children living in the country illegally to attend public schools, although some conservative lawmakers have questioned whether immigrants without legal residency should have the right to a public education.
Walters has said he would support efforts by Trump to enforce immigration laws, including allowing federal agents with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement 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."
Walters has spent much of his first term in office attacking what he describes as "woke" ideology in public schools, requiring Bible instruction in Oklahoma classrooms and attempting to ban books from school libraries.
The plan has been sharply criticized by teachers and civil liberty groups and caused fear within Oklahoma's immigrant communities, said Rep. Arturo Alonso-Sandoval, a Democrat who represents Oklahoma City's heavily Hispanic south side.
"The community is scared, obviously," Alonso-Sandoval said. "The conversations I've had with parents, all they're doing is trying to provide the best opportunity for their kids, like any parents. They are starting to question: Do I unenroll my child from school?"
At Oklahoma City Public Schools, one of the state's largest districts with a student population that is 57% Hispanic, Superintendent Jamie Polk said in a letter to parents and staff last month after the rule was first proposed that federal law guarantees every child's right to public education regardless of immigration status.
"OKCPS does not, nor do we have plans to, collect the immigration status of our students or their families," she said.
For decades, children of families living in the country illegally have had the right to attend public school based on a 1982 Supreme Court decision known as Plyler v. Doe. In a 5-4 vote, justices held it is unconstitutional to deny children an education based on their immigration status.
Alabama attempted a similar requirement for public schools to ask the immigration status of students as part of a sweeping immigration law in 2011, but the state ultimately agreed to permanently block those provisions after they had been temporarily halted by a federal appeals court.
Immigration experts say attempts to undermine the Plyler decision should be taken seriously, pointing to recent Supreme Court rulings that have overturn longstanding precedents over abortion rights and affirmative action in higher education.