Students Fearful, Absent in Wake of Alabama鈥檚 Anti-Immigrant Law
When students at Foley Elementary School in Alabama arrived for class one morning in late September, many of the Latino students were crying. It was the first day that portions of Alabama鈥檚 anti-immigrant law were in effect.
When students at Foley Elementary School in Alabama arrived for class one morning in late September, many of the Latino students were crying.
It was the first day that portions of Alabama鈥檚 anti-immigrant law were in effect. Among other provisions, school officials were required to question newly enrolled students about their immigration status and the status of their parents.
The students, many of whom are U.S. citizens from immigrant families, were scared. They were afraid the law would take them away from their friends, their school and the only home many of them have ever known听鈥� Alabama. And for some of them, it did, as their parents decided to pack up and leave.
鈥淭he first two weeks were just traumatic with the kids crying and the teachers crying,鈥� said Patricia McGovern Armour, who teaches English as a Second Language (ESL) at the school. 鈥淭he parents were coming in to withdraw their students. They were just devastated because this is the only home that these children know. We had children saying, 鈥業 don鈥檛 want to go back to Mexico. I don鈥檛 know how to write in Spanish. I only know English and this is the only school I鈥檝e been to.鈥欌��
At Foley, 14 different countries are represented among the school鈥檚 1,200 students. More than 200 of the school鈥檚 students are ESL students.
But that may be changing.
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About 35 ESL students initially withdrew from the school, with three of those students returning, Armour said. Another 30 to 40 ESL students, she estimated, may leave.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had some of our students ask us if we have our papers because they鈥檙e scared we might get deported,鈥� Armour said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 know why people are being deported. They just know they have to have papers. So, they鈥檙e looking at us with big eyes saying, 鈥楧o you have papers?鈥� Because they鈥檙e worried about us.鈥�
The fear hasn鈥檛 been confined to Foley Elementary School.
The state absentee rate for Latino students roughly doubled the Monday after the school provision took effect 鈥� meaning 2,285 Latino students didn鈥檛 attend classes. It鈥檚 estimated there are about 34,000 Latino students statewide, which means almost seven out of 100 Latino students were not in school that day.
In October, the 澳彩开奖 was successful in getting a federal appellate court to issue a blocking the school provision until the to the law, HB 56, can be decided in full.
The Department of Justice, which also has challenged the anti-immigrant law, has asked school superintendents to provide information on school absences and withdrawals, noting that the law might have a chilling effect on school attendance.听
A 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling 鈥� Plyler v. Doe听鈥� held that immigration status could not be used to deny a child an education.
鈥淭he Supreme Court long ago upheld every child鈥檚 right to receive a public education in this country 鈥� regardless of the child鈥檚 immigration status,鈥� said 澳彩开奖 President Richard Cohen. 鈥淭he state of Alabama is now interfering with that right.鈥�
Back at Foley Elementary School, teachers continue to deal with the law鈥檚 impact on students, Armour said.
鈥淲e still have children that get in trouble for something little at school and they just fall to pieces,鈥� she said.听
Armour recalled an incident where two kindergarten students got in trouble for playing in the bathroom. They became extremely upset, much more than the situation warranted. The teacher asked what鈥檚 wrong.听
鈥淭hey thought they were going to be deported,鈥� Armour said.
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