Obama Government Memo Orders Local Schools to Take in Illegal Aliens

The Hill reports that the Obama administration is telling local schools that they have to take in illegal alien kids, and cannot verify their eligibility to attend school in the U.S.

The Obama administration is preparing the nation’s schools to accept thousands of new students who illegally crossed the southwest border and are now awaiting trials on their possible deportations.

A fact sheet from the Department of Education sent to states and schools on Monday highlights the children’s right to attend public school.

It says all children in the United States “are entitled to equal access to a public elementary and secondary education, regardless of their or their parents’ actual or perceived national origin, citizenship, or immigration status.”

The prospect of tens of thousands of children mostly from Central American countries attending school as they wait for their immigration status to be decided has the potential to be explosive after this summer’s emotional public debate about the border.

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The civil rights divisions of the departments of Justice and Education sent a letter in May warning districts to avoid enrollment practices that could “chill or discourage” children from signing up for school due to their perceived immigration status.

“These practices contravene Federal law,” the May 8 letter stated.

The letter pointed out that having children provide Social Security numbers or race and ethnicity data when enrolling must be only voluntary. It also said the age of the children could be proven using foreign records.

Schools may have to hire additional Spanish-speaking staff. And U.S. schools tend to be overcrowded already. Many schools have outgrown their permanent buildings and are using portable outbuildings to accommodate the numbers they already have.

Many of those who crossed during the surge are not children, of course.

Many of the kids will have to go through legal proceedings to determine whether they can stay permanently. Those proceedings take an average of 500 days. The average school year in the United States is just 180 days. America’s taxpayers will pick up the tab for all this.