05-08-2025
Immigration enforcement at North Texas schools? Education leaders say law bans it
As the final countdown to the start of the school year begins, in districts throughout North Texas, there's an unspoken reality: there are thousands of kids and their families who don't have legal status.
It is a national right that all children in the U.S. can receive a public education without regard to citizenship status.
The enhanced efforts by the Trump administration to remove and/or detain undocumented persons in the U.S. with raids at courthouses, job sites and neighborhoods have not targeted parents or educators at schools so far.
What, if anything, could happen to them under the current spike in undocumented migrant enforcement actions?
"We are the statue of liberty. We take them all. We love them all. We teach them all," said Dallas Public Schools Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde.
Elizalde said there are thousands of children filling schools who are not required to fill out forms validating their status as American citizens.
"Well, I certainly think that we have to understand that there are concerns in our community, and we continue to host community meetings and meet with parents so that we can continue to reassure them that our approach is what it's always been," said Elizalde. "We will follow to the fullest extent of the federal law, which says that federal ICE agents are not allowed on school grounds, they are not allowed to walk halls. We have not received any such inquiries."
Dallas is not alone in the education of children who may or may not have legal status. Garland, Richardson, Mesquite, Irving, Fort Worth and others have large numbers of students categorized as "English language learning students."
Any questions about their immigration status are protected under the Constitution.
Elizalde says she sees no change in that legal protection.
"Our job is to ensure every student, regardless of where they reside in our district, gets an excellent public education, and that's what we do every day," Elizalde said. "So I say to our parents and guardians, bring the kids on in and let's have a great school year."
