Sanctuary Schools Must End
What do a windswept town on the plains of North Dakota and a sandy beach hamlet in Florida have in common? Aside from the fact they’re both in the U.S., they only require students to show proof of identification, residency, and an up-to-date vaccine card to enter their schools. With the exception of some states that allow for vaccination waivers, this policy has led to an unprecedented number of illegal migrant children gaining admittance to public schools across the country.
Though statistics on these demographic movements have been difficult to find, what is available suggests that the number of children of illegal immigrants attending publicly funded schools is staggering. The situation is becoming clearer with an uptick in deportation, and the Trump Administration’s stemming the tide of illegal entries into the U.S. The strain on public resources has been intensely felt—and in many school districts, the strain has become downright catastrophic.
In just the last two years, New York City Public Schools have enrolled close to 50,000 “migrant students,” or roughly 5% of the total number of students in the school district. Most of these schools already experience extremely high staff turnover, low test scores, and frequent bouts of violence. Now, teachers and students must contend with a high number of students—sometimes even a majority—who don’t even share a language.
As a public school ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher for nearly a decade, I’ve seen the impact of the illegal immigration crisis firsthand. I’ve been posted to classrooms where the students number between 30 and 35—and not a single one speaks almost any English. Meanwhile, their monolingual American teacher is expected to teach them high school-level American history. Over the last four years, thousands of American public schools have become overwhelmed with foreign-born, foreign language-speaking students, often in the space of only weeks or months. The need to hire translators, additional ESL teachers, and a host of support staff has become necessary to help assuage the resulting chaos and confusion.
I can say without hesitation that not one of the migrant students I’ve had in class over the past ten years has thought of themselves as an American. The overwhelming majority would prefer to be back in their home countries, with many intensely distraught over being brought to the U.S. Their allegiances are reserved for Honduras, Guatemala, and Ecuador and their soccer teams—not America. And as the numbers of foreign students increase, their assimilation correspondingly decreases. There’s no reason to learn English if all their friends speak the same language and all their homework, tests, and quizzes are translated. Even if they can’t read (an increasingly common phenomenon), they’ll still receive a passing grade.
Why do American schools accept illegal immigrants without question? Furthermore, why are school staff more concerned about evading legal scrutiny than adhering to the most basic principles of patriotism, civics, and basic logic? There are social reasons for this suspension of common sense, but the legal reason goes back to a 1982 Supreme Court case, Plyler v. Doe. This landmark ruling made every public school in the U.S. effectively a “sanctuary school.”
In a 5-4 decision, Plyler v. Doe struck down a Texas statute that mandated that children present in schools illegally were not to be funded by the state. One school district in the state charged these students $1,000 a year for enrollment to make up for lost funding.
While the decision might have made some sense given its very specific context, Plyler v. Doe went far beyond merely ordering tuition-free education for illegal migrants. Denying unlawfully present children a public education was, the majority claimed, “utterly incompatible with the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.” An absurd precedent was set, one that is currently undermining the U.S. public education system. We are supposed to believe that the privileges of citizenship in the Constitution, specifically those in the 14th Amendment, apply to anyone who moves within the physical boundaries of the United States.
It should not be difficult to recognize the ludicrous nature of such a precedent, but we have seen similar examples plague our legal system for decades. If all the laws and privileges of the U.S. apply to everyone equally, citizen or not, of what benefit are they to actual U.S. citizens?
Because education is a hot-button issue since it’s concerned with children, it’s been far easier to maintain the status quo of enrolling illegal immigrant students than to contest Plyler v. Doe. But thanks to the Trump Administration’s boldness in confronting illegal immigration, the tide has finally started to turn. HB-0793, a bill that would allow local school districts to opt out of allowing illegal immigrant students to enroll, was introduced in the Tennessee General Assembly at the beginning of February. In December, Oklahoma Education Superintendent Ryan Walters proposed “ending sanctuary schools” in the state.
Any bill targeting the unquestioned enrollment of unlawfully present students will be a direct challenge to Plyler v. Doe—and this is a challenge long overdue.
The outcry from the Left over keeping illegal, school-age children out of public schools will be fierce. Many from within the Republican establishment will likely oppose it. A host of American evangelical leaders will wax eloquent about “the sojourner,” “the stranger,” and “the other.” But none of these people occupy the moral high ground. That sacred space belongs to the political Right, especially the Christian Right, as it alone seems to grasp the concepts of national sovereignty, legitimate compassion, and the ordo amoris.
Opening up our school buildings to any child on the planet may be done in the name of compassion, but it is veiled contempt for our own children.
The proposed legislation and ramped-up rhetoric surrounding sanctuary schools are excellent first steps toward public school reform—but the battle is only beginning. To gain traction, the issue must be addressed on both the local and national levels. Ending sanctuary schools matters. The faulty policy of allowing sanctuary schools has a critical effect on where illegal migrants choose to settle, thus fundamentally altering the culture and demographics of particular communities, towns, cities, counties, and states.
The problems that need addressing within the American public school system are legion, but they don’t matter if we can’t first say that American schools should only be for citizens and those who are here legally.
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