ABSTRACT
One of the most controversial issues in public education is the schooling of unauthorized migrants. In 2010, approximately 1.1 million unauthorized migrants were children and another 1.29 million were young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 (Hoefer, Rytina, & Baker, 2011, p. 5). States and localities responsible for education frequently note concerns about the costs of educating unauthorized migrants. To defray these costs, states and localities have attempted to prohibit unauthorized migrants from attending K–12 public schools or require unauthorized migrants to pay to attend them. In 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that states could not deny unauthorized migrant students the free K–12 public education they provide to citizens and authorized migrants (Plyler v. Doe). Despite this ruling, a growing number of states are considering or enacting legislation that will likely reduce unauthorized migrant student enrollment in K–12 public schools. Such legislation will have a disproportionate impact on Latinos. Although the majority of Latinos in the United States are citizens or authorized migrants, most unauthorized migrants are Latino (Hoefer et al., 2011, p. 4; U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). Efforts to exclude unauthorized migrants from K–12 public schools will deny a free public school education to a significant number of Latino students. Historically K–12 schools have played an important role in incorporating immigrants by providing students with the knowledge and skills essential for political integration and democratic participation such as knowledge of American democratic principles, U.S. history, and English-language skills (Abu El-Haj, 2007; Task Force on New Americans, 2008). Reductions in the enrollment or attendance of unauthorized migrant school children decreases the likelihood that they will be successfully incorporated into U.S. society, which will leave a disproportionate number of Latino students excluded.
