NYS Schools Are Barring Immigrant Students

After reviewing the enrollment policies of 139 school districts (out of almost 700) in New York State, the New York Civil Liberties Union found that more than 20 percent may have denied access to immigrant students.

The NYCLU issued a letter to New York State education officials calling this a "crisis point," saying schools asked for unnecessary documents, like original birth certificates and social security numbers, which are not required for school enrollment.

“The NYCLU has presented data to the State Education Department for years showing that many districts across the state are discriminating against immigrant children and preventing them from enrolling in schools," Donna Lieberman, the executive director of the NYCLU, wrote in a statement. "It’s shocking that the SED has not acted sooner or more decisively to guarantee the right of all New York children to an education.”

Four years ago, the NYCLU released a similar report, which prompted state education officials to issue a state-wide memo reminding them of the enrollment procedures. 

"The fact that things are still in place four years later is really problematic; we have no way of knowing how many kids in those four years have been denied entry to a school," Johanna Miller, an NYCLU spokeswoman said.

"We're always on top of this," Dennis Tompkins, a spokesman for the State Education Department told WNYC. "It's a very important issue to the commissioner and the chancellor and we're on top of this."  

Tompkins denied the NYCLU's accusations. "We have not received any complaints at all about a student being denied enrollment in the last four years since the last time the Civil Liberties Union took this survey," he said. "If there are any allegations out there or any information that could help us we'd like the Civil Liberties Union to inform us immediately so we can move forward."

Earlier this month, The New York Times found immigrant students in Hempstead and other Long Island towns were being barred from entering. The state said it's launching a review of enrollment procedures there.