Is It Unconstitutional to Deny an Education of Children of Illegal Immigrants - Term Paper Example

Is It Unconstitutional To Deny an Education of Children of Illegal Immigrants? Introduction According to the Immigration and Nationality Act of the US, any person who does not have the citizenship of the nation and lacks residential proof of being an American is categorized as ‘illegal immigrants’. The growing number of illegal immigrants has become a major issue for the government of the nation today. According to the estimates of the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, it was observed that the total population of illegal immigrants has risen to 11.6 million in the year 2008 and 10.8 million in 2009. However, these figures determine that during the last few years, the number of illegal immigrants had decreased along with the decline in the controversies regarding illegal immigration throughout the country. Observably, around 1.3 million people out of 10.8 million illegal immigrants in the country were children, who were also counted as illegal residents by the constitution of US as per the figures of 2010 (Pew Research Centre, 2011). It is also commonly observed that many children in the US have either an illegal father or mother. It means that any one of their parents has been an illegal immigrant in the country. Certainly, there are many benefits which these illegal immigrant children are secluded from in accordance with the immigration policies of the US that has fueled substantial debates within the national paradigm concerning the rights of these populaces in terms of employment and education as well as other basic necessities of life. In legal terms, children of illegal immigrants are allowed to have their public education in the schools of the country. However, experts have been debating over the issue as to whether the country should bear the cost of educating these children or shall it be unconstitutional to deny free education for children of illegal immigrant parents (Bruno, 2010). Correspondingly, emphasis will be laid on examining the legal implications of denying free education to children of illegal immigrants and if such an act can be considered as unconstitutional in the US. Current scenario of education to children of illegal immigrants Providing free education to the children of illegal immigrants has remained a controversial issue in the US for many years; perhaps, since the documentation of its constitution. In the year 1982, the Supreme Court of the US gave a landmark decision in the case of Plyler v. Doe stating that it is completely unconstitutional to deny the education to children, on the grounds that they belong to a family of illegal immigrants. The Court also stated that keeping the illegal immigrant’s children away from the education would reduce the standard of education of the country along with hampering the social status of the nation moving against its constitutional principles of equality and diversity. The underlying assumption to this particular statement elaborates that in many schools in the US, enrolling of numerous students helps in raising its standard of manpower, which is quite crucial to trigger sustainable economic development in future. Often, it is also observed that the increasing demand for the skilled labors have made the US government to adopt or include the children of illegal immigrants in various educational organizations or institutions. In order to overcome the problems of shortage in skilled labor force, the government of the country has provided education to the children of the illegal immigrant’s parents. However, in few of the educational institutes of the country, giving education to the children of illegal immigrants are considered to be unconstitutional due to the reason that it possesses political problems if not the conceptual problems (Schelling, 2010). On the contrary, Baum & Flores (2011), states that delivering free education to the immigrants will not only improve the social as well as the economic conditions of the country as a whole but also improve the life of the individuals. Accordingly, with the increase in the number of immigrants’ population and the radical shift in the ethical and racial composition, the demand for the education of the illegal immigrant’s children has risen up, which has further contributed to the economic burden of the country to educate more people at the government cost and employ them suitably by expanding employment opportunities within the nation on a continuous basis. Nevertheless, it should be mentioned that denying free education to illegal immigrants’ children shall be contradictory to many provisions of the US constitution. For instance, according to the current legal practices in US, it is mentioned that all the children in the country, regardless of the immigration status, must be provided with public education ranging from the kindergarten to 12th grade. The Court also stated that denial of the education to the children will be punishable on the grounds that such negligence tends to promote excessive under-class population in the American societies. In the year 1975, the children of illegal immigrants were not allowed to be admitted in the public schools of the country as per the rules set by Texas legislature. After two years of the implementation of the aforementioned rules and regulations, the Tyler Independent School District implemented a policy that the children of illegal immigrants will be allowed to get education in the public schools but they will need to pay the tuition fees. The Supreme Court of the country also stated that the children will be distinguished only in terms of their enrollment policies under two of the legal provisions of the school district. While one of those criteria affirm that illegal immigrant’s children must hold a document as a proof of their permanent residence in the US, the other denotes that the authorities of federal immigration must confirm to be in the process of obtaining the documents for their legal stay in the country (Schelling, 2010). The ethical consideration of the legal status of illegal immigrants state that any children, despite of their immigrant status, must not be deprived from availing education benefits. It also connotes that the exclusion of the illegal immigrant children shall hamper the socio economic structure of the country at large, polarizing its society between legal residents and illegal immigrants. This kind of unethical behavior with the children shall further promote discrimination against the illegal immigrant people residing in the US. In the modern scenario, it has also been observed that many of the schools or educational institutes of the country have designed strategies, which aim to promote safety during the enrollment of the students. Usually, the local school districts ask the parents for the submission of Social Security numbers along with the other necessary and relevant documents during the time of enrollment in the school. Another legal formality being carried by the school authorities during the enrollment is that the illegal immigrants are asked to present the foreign birth certificate of the child. If the parents are unable to present these documents, the school authorities often do not encourage the admission of such students (American Immigration Council, 2012). Despite of all these norms and legislative measures, it is stated by the legal authorities along with the Supreme Court of the country that denying free education to the children of illegal immigrants is not unconstitutional and therefore, the payment of tuition fees is liable in majority of the schools. Supporters to the statement, more precisely asserted that denying education completely to the illegal immigrants’ children shall certainly be unconstitutional as it might violate their human right i.e. right to knowledge. However, debates have been concentrated on the fact that education can certainly be provided to these populaces in exchange of a certain amount of fees that shall help the government to minimize its burden of education and employment costs. In the current scenario, the laws of US also state that in order to qualify for the tuition rates levied by the state government, the children of illegal immigrants must reside within the country for the stipulated time period and be qualified for free education (Russell, 2011). U.S. Constitutional Provisions, Statutes, and Court Cases in Terms of Education In the constitution of any democratic nation, it is believed that education is a particular provision that is the birth right of each and every individual existing. Each and every individual living in the society has the right to knowledge in any subject domain. In pursuit to the stated objective, these nations often intend implementing certain laws and legislations that ensure proper accomplishment of this right to the people. Contextually, similar to that of any other legislation, the legislative principle of the US also believes in providing educational rights to each and every citizen residing in the nation as a measure to maintain equality, uniformity and overall development within the society. The education laws of the US depict that each and every individual in the country is liable to obtain a safe, ethical and learning environment, where effective and quality education can be acquired by them (State of Michigan, 2014). Furthermore, the present status of right to education in the US also portrays that education is among the fundamental rights for people in the country, wherein each and every individual is liable to exercise this right to avail proper or required education for them in any region within the nation (Congress.Gov, n.d.). Furthermore, as per the concept or the belief of UNICEF that education is for all children, the legislative authority in the US has emerged with the legal provision of equal education for all as per the “Education for All Act of 2011”. In accordance to the law, the concerned authorities in the nation have adopted the approach of ensuring education for every children or individual with the assistance of various nations of the world (Congress.Gov, n.d.). Contextually, it can be depicted that denying education to any individual or children will be considered as a violation of the law of education prevailing in the United States. However, there are numerous other aspects that need to be analyzed prior to conclude on whether denying education to children of illegal immigrants is unconstitutional, wherein the implications are no more limited to demographic boundaries but have expanded to the branches of socio-economic and political stability of the country. Statutes and Cases of Education to Children of Illegal Immigrants As a matter of fact in the current scenario, the number of illegal immigrants in the US has increased considerably over the recent decades, which further raises competition level in its various sectors aiming at appropriate services. Education is one such sector where competition has become quite fierce, especially owing to the presence of a large number of children of illegal immigrants who seek to enjoy equal rights similar to that of the general citizen while being the resident of the country. Notably, it has been depicted that the federal laws of education in the country portrays that no child in the country should be left without an elementary or secondary education as per the No Child Left behind Act 2001 enacted by the former president of the nation Mr. George Bush. The act also signifies that education will be equally accessible for the children irrespective of their gender, race and nationality among others. In context to this particular legislative rule, denying education to the children of illegal immigrants will be considered unconstitutional and illegal as well as unethical (Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, n.d.). In this regard, not providing the right to education to the children of the immigrant parents in the country might be considered as an approach of discrimination and improper execution or implementation of the education legislation of the nation. In this regard, discussing the landmark case of Plyler v. Doe will be crucial. Notably, Plyler v. Doe 457 U.S. 202 was fought in the Supreme Court of the US, which is directly relevant to the prevailing educational issues in terms of its availability to the children of the illegal parents. It has been observed that in this particular case example, an illegal immigrant has challenge the statutes of a particular state claiming that equal protection of laws should be permitted for each and every resident of a nation irrespective of their immigration status and hence, can be illustrated as binding to the educational policies denying enrolment of illegal immigrants’ children (Cornell University Law School, n.d.). In the case of Plyler v. Doe, it was apparently observed that statutes of a state denied educational funding to the students belonging to the group of undocumented immigrants. As per the statutes of the state, the children of illegal immigrants were denied from free tuitions further violating the free and quality education policy of the government. Notably, the existing law in US in the domain of education depicts that education will be provided free to the children who have parents falling in the low income group. In this context, free education will mean that tuition fees in educational institution will not be levied on the children of the low income parents. The jury of the Supreme Court also affirmed that the approach of the state against the illegal immigrant children was completely unfair, as any resident in the US is liable to be protected by the law of discrimination, even when demanding for education, as per the Fourteenth Amendment. The approach of the state was completely discriminating in nature as they were hindering the illegal immigrants’ children to avail educational right in the country. In this regard, the court considered the legislation of public education in the US, which was directly controlled and funded by the state, local along with the federal government of the nation. As per the public education policy, free educational institutions were set up for children throughout the country. The educational institutions, as per the legal policies of the nation, have also been instructed to provide free education in terms of tuition fees for children of parents falling under a low income group. This aspect again depicts that free education is availed for all children belonging to families classified in the low income group, irrespective of their race, gender or cultural background. Contextually, jury decided the case in favor of the illegal immigrants and affirmed that the state cannot deny education to the children of illegal immigrants (Cornell University Law School, n.d.). It will also be crucial to mention that in this particular case, a legislation i.e. Gallegly, law was taken into consideration in the initial phase to analyze the case. The Gallegly amendment passed in the year 1996 as a particular reform in the immigration laws of the US. The sole purpose of this particular amendment was to deny public education to the illegal immigrants in the US. However, in the later scenario, this amendment was removed owing to stern opposition amid the general public (Jelski, 2012). This particular result of the case will further serve as a vital point in affirming a firm decision on whether denying education to children of illegal immigrants is unconstitutional. Arguments on Whether Is It Unconstitutional To Deny an Education of Children of Illegal Immigrants It has been a constant topic of debate on whether children with illegal parents should be provided with education in the nation. Different people have their different point of views about this particular aspect and all of these are logical one way or the other. In this section, arguments that are being raised in favor of the topic as well as those raised against the stated topic will be elaborated in this section, hereunder. Argument Portraying That Denying Education to Children of Illegal Immigrants Is Unconstitutional The above analysis depicts that most of the legislations associated with the educational sector of the US advocates for providing education services to each and every children in the country. In this context, the approach of not providing education to the illegal immigrants can be regarded as an unconstitutional approach. As per the educational policy of the nation, each of the children in the nation should be equally encouraged to access education benefits, irrespective of any status difference. This shows that the children of illegal immigrants, despite of belonging to some other nation, will be considered as a resident of the nation and will be liable to get access to all the educational facilities provided by the government or legal authorities of the nation. This shows that denying education completely to the children of illegal immigrants will be considered unconstitutional and against the procedural rules of legal norms. Furthermore, the government of the US has also adopted the approach of the UNICEF and emerged with the approach of No Child Left Behind Act to reward the humanitarian advantages to illegal immigrant populaces. As per this particular initiative of the federal government, no children in the nation is expected to be left behind from acquiring quality education for himself or herself as a resident of the nation of the US. In this context too, it can be depicted that denying education to children of illegal immigrants should be considered as unconstitutional based on ethical grounds. In similar regard, the result or the decision of the jury in the case of Plyler v. Doe affirmed that denying education to children of illegal immigrants is not legally acceptable as it directly depicts discrimination on the basis of social status which further violates the norms of the fourteenth amendment. This shows that social status or immigration statutes of a resident of the country cannot be considered as a meaningful criterion for denying education to the children of illegal immigrants. This aspect also shows that education is mandatory and should be equally available for every child and therefore, no child can be denied for education on the basis their social or immigrant status (American Immigration Council, 2012). Argument Portraying That Denying Education to Children of Illegal Immigrants is not unconstitutional The above conducted arguments depict about how legal principles restrict denial of education to the children with parents of illegal immigrants. However, there are also perceptions that denying education to the children with illegal immigrant parents is not unconstitutional owing to certain aspects. In this regard, it is believed that the educational policies of the US ensure that the citizen of the nations is able to obtain proper and quality education. However, with the increasing number of illegal or undocumented immigrants in the country, competitive forces tend to rise in various sectors, which include the educational sector as well. It is deemed that owing to this particular competition, the federal government has constantly failed to provide funding required in the execution of the concept of No Child Left behind Act. Therefore, denying free education to the children of illegal immigrants might work in a positive way to deal with the challenges of government in the domain of funding. This aspect further shows that denying education to the children of illegal immigrant parent might not be unconstitutional in nature, since it is adopted with regard to the welfare of the economy and citizen of the nation. In this similar regard, Griffee (2011) depicts that a new immigration law depicts that students who are intending to take admission in the educational institutions of the nation will have the need to state their present immigration status in order to get registration. This shows that there is a legal provision, which hinders the deliverance of education to children of the illegal immigrants within the US (Griffee, 2011). This again indirectly shows that denying education to children of illegal parents will not be unconstitutional. Notably, providing quality education to the people in the country shall enhance the educational expenditure of the nation to a substantial extent. This is because of the fact that the government of the nation is also committed towards providing free education to the children of illegal immigrant parents classified in the low-income group. This not only raises educational expenses of the nation but also results in affecting the economy of the nation negatively. In this context, providing free education to the children with illegal immigrant parents will certainly act as an extra burden on the economy. Consequently, on this particular ground, denying education to illegal immigrants can be considered as unconstitutional. Hence, it is apparent that there are aspects that shows denying education to children of undocumented immigrants to be unconstitutional while some also argue against such a notion. Analysis From the overall analysis, it can be affirmed that both point of views exists with regard to the topic on whether denying education to children of illegal immigrants are unconstitutional. However, as per the legal norms of the nation along with the aspect of human rights of people, it can be depicted that denying education to children is unconstitutional and should not be practiced in the US. Since the immigrants in the country have been residing in the country for quite a longer duration now, they can also be deemed to possess equal rights to those offered to the legal residents in the US and thus, gain the benefits of the public sector including the healthcare and educational services. Contextually, according to a survey, 66% of the US citizens believe that children of the illegal immigrants or the illegal immigrants themselves should be made liable to get benefits from the public sector, which also includes the educational sector (PPIC, 2014). Hence, in my personal viewpoint, education should not be denied to the children of illegal immigrants since it is quite an unconstitutional practice altogether. However, it is also believed that providing free education to the children of illegal immigrants will not be a valuable prospect, as it might directly hamper the economy of the nation in an unfavorable manner. It has also been noted that parents of the children are verified on the basis of their residential proof to judge their immigration status in the country. However, it can be recommended that this particular approach should be replaced by providing a social security card for each and every student, which will further act as a proof of their residency in the US. Observably, providing education to the children of illegal immigrants might have certain potential implications to the society. With this particular approach, children of the illegal immigrant parents, in the country, might be able to obtain quality education in the without dealing with further hindrances, which will again fulfill the aim of the federal government to ensure that each and every child can avail proper access to education. Furthermore, this particular approach will also certainly result in social integrity where people can live with less discrimination. Conclusion From the overall analysis, it can be comprehended that the increasing level of illegal immigrants is one of the major issues that US is dealing with in the present day context. In similar context, the country is also dealing with certain other issues amid which, the challenges in the educational sector is deemed to be of primary level. It is believed that as per the legislative norms of the US, education can be stated as a right for every individual wherein each and every resident of the nation has the right to access the same without any hindrance. However, it has been noted that different people hold diverse views with regard to the aspect as to whether denying education to children of illegal immigrants is unconstitutional. The discussion portrayed the facts both in support of the viewpoint as well as against it to provide a more transparent comprehension. From a critical point of view although, it can be inferred that providing education shall undoubtedly strengthen the demographic strengths of the nation by enriching its labor force and minimizing social conflicts, but on the other hand, it is likely to generate economic issues in terms of increased education cost burden for government, risk of poor quality education services owing to cost constraints and higher demand for employment opportunity. Certainly, these factors shall further weaken the economic stability of the US owing to which, denying free education to children of illegal immigrants should not be perceived as unconstitutional. It is also noteworthy that illegal immigrants must have the opportunity to avail education facilities at a certain cost, wherein the costs can be discounted for families below the poverty line to help educate these populaces; therefore, sufficing both the ethical and economic interests of the society. References American Immigration Council. (2012). Public Education for Immigrant Students: States Challenge Supreme Court’s Decision in Plyler v. Doe. Retrieved from http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/public-education-immigrant-students-states-challenge-supreme-court%E2%80%99s-decision-plyler-v-do Baum, S., & Flores, S. M. (2011). Higher Education and Children in Immigrant Families. Spring, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 171-193. Bruno, A. (2010). Unauthorized Aliens in the United States. Congressional Research Service, 1-22. Cornell University Law School. (n.d.). Plyler v. Doe. Retrieved from http://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/457/202 Congress. Gov. (n.d.). H.R.2705 - Education for all act of 2011. Retrieved from http://beta.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/house-bill/2705 Griffee, S. L. (2011). Are children of illegal immigrants entitled to a public education? Retrieved from http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/are-children-of-illegal-immigrants-entitled-to-a-public-education/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1 Jelski, D. (2012). A free college education for all. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/ccap/2012/01/19/a-free-college-education-for-all/ Pew Research Centre. (2011). Unauthorized immigrant population: national and state trends, 2010. Retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/files/reports/133.pdf PPIC. (2014). Illegal immigration. Retrieved from http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/atissue/AI_711HJAI.pdf Russell, A. (2011). State policies regarding undocumented college students: a narrative of unresolved issues, ongoing debate and missed opportunities. AASCU Policy Matters, 1-9. Schelling, K. (2010). Tuition Equity for Undocumented Immigrants in Colorado. Illegal Immigration in the United States, 1-25. State of Michigan. (2014). State board of education. Retrieved from http://www.michigan.gov/images/2458_bdpolicy961024_772_7.pdf Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. (n.d.). Education laws, regulations, and rules. Retrieved from http://oea.dpi.wi.gov/oea_lawsrule Read More