Assembly Approves Bill To Ensure School Enrollment Of Children Regardless Of Immigration Status

Legislation to require the state to biannually distribute a letter to school districts reminding them of the requirement to enroll resident students regardless of immigration status, was approved 64-13 Thursday by the Assembly. The bill was sponsored by Assembly Democrats Ruben J. Ramos Jr., Annette Quijano and Marlene Caride.

The bill is based on a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that held that undocumented children living in the United States could not be excluded from public elementary and secondary schools based upon their immigration status.

“These children were entitled to an appropriate public education,” said Ramos (D-Hudson). “We’re talking about children who have no control over their immigration status, and we should want them to be enrolled in school and properly educated so they can become productive members of our society. When you think about it, this is just common sense.”

“It’s important to regularly remind school districts that a child’s immigration status does not affect his eligibility to attend public school,” said Quijano (D-Union). “We are rightly committed in New Jersey to educating each and every child, and this bill simply reminds everyone of that goal.”

“Requiring the Department of Education to biannually distribute a letter to each school district reminding the district of the obligation to enroll resident students regardless of immigration status is the right thing to do for children,” said Caride (D-Bergen/Passaic). “This is about fairness and ensuring a better future for our state.”

Under the bill, the letter must be distributed by Aug. 1 and Dec. 30 of each school year and must include information on the documentation that may be requested pursuant to state board regulations to demonstrate a student’s eligibility for enrollment in the district.

The bill will be referred to the Senate for further consideration. TLS.

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12 COMMENTS

  1. Here come the Democrats telling us how to behave and how we should give away OUR money to support THEIR feel good ideas. If the Democrats would fix the immigration system the children would not be here illegally. They are the ones who want to keep the “anchor baby ” laws which creates these problems. When are we going to wise up and dump these (moderated) Democrats!

  2. Well, annon, for starters, the country is being ruined by people who cannot spell.
    And secondly, the country was built by LEGAL immigrants, not ILLEGAL immigrants.

  3. @ #3 yea but our fore father’s did it LEGALLY not jump a fence in the middle of the night to pop out a kid on AMERICAN soil so that they are legal but parents aren’t, not right at all , why should my hard earned money go to support every illegal that comes here, I can’t get a helping hand but all these bleeding hearts are falling over themselves to help them.

  4. to#3:
    us was built on legal innmigration
    even though the children are not @ fault, this bill does promote ilegal inmigration
    have the ilegals pay for the education, if they want their children to get one here

  5. Yes the country was built by LEGAL immigration like all our ancestors did when they came to this great country.
    That littel point was missing from your comment#3.

  6. annon says:
    June 24, 2012 at 11:59 am

    How is this country being ruined by immigrations? this country was built by immigrations.

    Does the country you came from differentiate between legal and illegal immigration – or is this too deep for you to grasp?

  7. #4,5,&8

    First speak for yourself when you say your forefathers came here legally. Second most of those “legal” immigrants came before 1924 when there were no immigration laws to break!

  8. What about arresting everyone in Lakewood who employs illegal immigrants? It’s funny how when it comes to construction, landscaping, house cleaning, child care, and cheap labor for area businesses it seems to be ok that they are here (to cater, of coarse), but when you think they take from you it’s a different story. My next question is how many illegal immigrants in Lakewood are from Israel? Does anyone have those numbers? Keep it real!!

Comments are closed.