Legal Protections for Newcomer Students: Interview with Lawyers for Civil Rights

The Rennie Center recently spoke with Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, Executive Director of Lawyers for Civil Rights, to learn more about the protections available to newcomer students under the law. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Rennie Center (RC): What rights do migrant students have when it comes to accessing public education in Massachusetts?

Iván Espinoza-Madrigal (IEM): Students have well-established rights under federal and state law to have equitable access to educational opportunities. These firmly established rights ensure that all students, regardless of their race, background, or housing situation, can receive a quality education. The law also details the rights that migrants have with respect to K-12 public schools. Migrant children, regardless of immigration status, must be afforded access to public schools. This is a well-established right that has been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court in Plyler v. Doe, a major case from the 1980s.

It’s also important to note that unhoused students have strong legal protections under federal law, specifically the McKinney-Vento Act, to make sure that they have access to educational opportunities despite their housing insecurity. Together, the federal and state landscape strongly support all students, whether housed or unhoused, and irrespective of their immigration status, to have robust opportunities for educational enrollment and educational advancement.

RC: How should school districts approach the process of enrolling new students?

IEM: Districts have various policies for enrollment. This is where the enrollment process can either be complicated or facilitated. At Lawyers for Civil Rights, we recently heard of a family that moved to Texas and the school district made them jump through hoops for the enrollment of an undocumented student. But the enrollment process for a sibling who is a U.S. citizen was extremely smooth and efficient. This contrast, even within the same household, where one student can easily be enrolled in school but another one faces significant hurdles, is not uncommon.

We’re seeing similar challenges unfold in Massachusetts, where there is a patchwork of different policies and practices. Some of these are relatively straightforward, asking parents for identity records and information about the student, while others are much more burdensome and intrusive and improperly inquire about immigration status.

While the enrollment process doesn’t necessarily have a one-size-fits-all approach, it is critical that schools come up with policies and practices that are accessible and that facilitate the process. There’s no reason for schools to ask about immigration status, especially in light of federal precedent like Plyler v. Doe. Immigration status is irrelevant for the purposes of school enrollment. So any inquiry about immigration status is improper and extraneous. The same thing applies to paperwork requirements like filling out a town census. There’s no reason why a family should have to fill out such paperwork simply to enroll a student in school. What we really need is a much more streamlined and accessible process for all students, and that applies just as much here in Massachusetts as in other states where we’re seeing increasing reports of families facing significant obstacles to enrollment.

The other phenomenon that is on the rise is blanket policies discouraging migrant families from enrolling children in schools. Some districts are making public announcements that children living in migrant shelters would not qualify as residents in the town for school enrollment purposes. When a school makes that type of public announcement, it is sending a very clear signal to migrant families that they should look elsewhere for educational opportunities, and that is improper, because the law allows children who are unhoused to enroll in school irrespective of immigration or housing status. So what we need is compliance with federal laws and state laws that make clear that immigration status and stable housing are not prerequisites for enrollment.

RC: Are there any differences in the enrollment process for students experiencing homelessness?

IEM: The enrollment process for students who are unhoused or may not have a Social Security number should be the same as for any other student. You provide information about the student’s date of birth, age, and any previous school records that may be available, but you should not have to show that the student has a Social Security card to be able to enroll in school. Similarly, if you have documentation saying that you’re staying at a nearby shelter, that is enough to show your presence within that school district, and the inquiry should not extend beyond that. There should be no requirement surrounding immigration status, and no requirement beyond documentation showing that you are staying in a shelter within the district.

At this time, some school districts are trying to produce a chilling effect to discourage migrant families from enrollment. To be clear, this is not all schools. Many schools remain welcoming and continue to follow federal and state laws very closely and are working with families effectively to enroll kids and integrate children regardless of immigration status or housing insecurity. That should be applauded, and that’s the way that schools should all be operating. We’re concerned about the spike in districts that are trying to create new enrollment requirements or that are issuing statements to discourage enrollment, but we are very pleased to see that many schools are getting this right.

RC: For students and families who speak languages other than English, what can school districts do to help them access information in their native language?

IEM: It’s important for schools to be proactive in thinking about linguistic representation and access. For example, in recent Boston School Committee meetings, they have a moment at the beginning of the meeting where they showcase all of the languages available for simultaneous translation, then create Zoom channels where those speakers are able to hear the entire meeting in their preferred language. It’s such a great example of language access being done smoothly and effectively.

We want to see more school districts connecting meaningfully with students and parents through language access, and this entails ensuring that appropriate resources are being dedicated for multilingual support for students and families. That includes simple things like translating the school enrollment forms into Portuguese or Spanish or Haitian Creole so that families are able to complete the enrollment process in a language familiar to them.

It also means translating key information into those languages—for instance, if a teacher-parent conference is coming up, making sure the notification letter is sent in languages relevant to town residents, or if a disciplinary notice is being issued for a student, that the parent understands what rights they have to participate in the process or to appeal. All of this information can be easily standardized into other languages because we’re talking about form letters (enrollment, parent-teacher conferences, or suspension notices) that encompass the bulk of the communication that a school might have with students and parents. Making that available in multiple languages is an excellent starting point.

RC: Do you have any final thoughts on common pitfalls that school committees and district leaders be aware of as they craft policies for enrolling and educating newcomer students?

IEM: School announcements matter, and if a school is issuing a statement or press release concerning eligibility or enrollment of migrant children or unhoused families, people pay attention to that. It’s so important that the communications the school districts are releasing create meaningful engagement with affected students and families instead of producing a chilling effect that deters families from enrolling in the first place.

If a school is sending the message that you don’t belong in this town or this school, it can be quickly internalized, and that may steer families away from those communities and schools. That chilling effect is highly problematic. Schools are places where all children should be welcome to learn and grow, and it is particularly important when we are in difficult times for schools to embrace their role as sanctuaries. The message they send matters, and all schools should be proactively thinking, how does my enrollment process facilitate connection to new families and students? What are the barriers that may deter enrollment?

This is an opportunity for us to open the door instead of closing it, and many schools are doing the right thing. They need to be applauded for that, and we also need other schools to follow in those good footsteps.