New Campaign Underscores Rights Of Undocumented Students

The Leadership Conference Education Fund has launched a Spanish language radio advertising campaign in Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Arizona, Georgia, Arkansas, and New Mexico to remind listeners of civil rights protections that exist for undocumented students.

The group notes that the U.S. Constitution guarantees all children in the United States have an equal right to attend public school regardless of immigration status. (That guarantee was affirmed by the Supreme Court’s Plyler v. Doe decision).  

LCEF said the  campaign was created after “false and confusing congressional testimony from Education Secretary Betsy DeVos about the rights of immigrant children and schools’ obligation to protect all students.”

In a letter to DeVos last month, over 160 civil rights and education groups called on her to clarify that she understands and will enforce federal laws protecting the rights of immigrant children to attend schools.

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The ads stress that schools are banned from calling U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement and are required to by law to enroll children even if they are undocumented.

The radio spot in Spanish can be heard here, and the English translation can be heard here.

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