Do not ban illegal immigrant children from public schools
Earlier this week the Nashville Tennessean reported that “Two high-ranking Tennessee Republicans have filed a bill to allow public schools to deny enrollment to children who entered the country illegally.”
This bill (House Bill 793) is explicitly aimed as a challenge to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1982 that requires public schools in America “to provide equal access to all children.” The Tennessee bill would not require Tennessee public schools to bar the children of illegal immigrants from enrollment, but would “allow” them to do so.
Under any circumstances, this is a truly bad and destructive idea on several levels and should be rejected immediately and emphatically.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Let me preface my argument by stating that I am firmly opposed to illegal immigration into our country. The horrific immigration policies employed by the Biden Administration have caused millions of undocumented people to illegally enter our country. As a nation, we have a right to determine how many people are allowed to enter our country in any given year. We also have the right to determine the conditions under which they can stay here and the duration of their stay.
We are a nation of immigrants, but we are a nation of legal immigrants. People came here legally and embraced our language and our political belief system if they wanted to stay here permanently.
I support the president’s policy of removing illegal immigrants who have broken the law either here or in their country of origin. Perhaps we can find a pathway to legal status (not citizenship) for others who agree to pay fines, go through a probationary period (at least ten years), and demonstrate proficiency in written and spoken English. Such people might be granted legal status, but not citizenship. Being ineligible for citizenship is the permanent penalty they would pay for having broken the law by coming here illegally.
So why is the idea of turning away the children of illegal immigrants from our public schools a truly bad idea with potentially terrible consequences?
First, it is immoral to punish people for other people’s crimes. Children of illegal immigrants did not bring themselves to America. They either were brought here by their parents or they were born here after their parents came here illegally.
To deny these children access to education is both wrong and cruel. Denying them access to education during those crucial years of their childhood and adolescence as a consequence of circumstances beyond their control is the essence of infamous and cruel and unusual punishment.
Second, having these children of illegal immigrants in our public schools gives us a chance as a society to keep “tabs” on them, to know who they are, where they are domiciled, and if they are in any sense endangered. Are they showing signs of being malnourished? Are there any indications of physical neglect or physical abuse? Are there any indications of sexual abuse?
If they are not in school, we have very little ability to know of their existence and what the circumstances of their lives are. If they are in school, we have teachers, nurses, and school social workers who can make home visits to ensure each child’s welfare and safety.
If they are not enrolled in school they are much more likely to disappear from the social grid and to be trafficked into child labor or sexual servitude.
As a civilized society, we have a responsibility to these children, regardless of what their parents might have done or the circumstances of how they arrived on American soil.
Dr. Richard Land, BA (Princeton, magna cum laude); D.Phil. (Oxford); Th.M (New Orleans Seminary). Dr. Land served as President of Southern Evangelical Seminary from July 2013 until July 2021. Upon his retirement, he was honored as President Emeritus and he continues to serve as an Adjunct Professor of Theology & Ethics. Dr. Land previously served as President of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (1988-2013) where he was also honored as President Emeritus upon his retirement. Dr. Land has also served as an Executive Editor and columnist for The Christian Post since 2011.
Dr. Land explores many timely and critical topics in his daily radio feature, “Bringing Every Thought Captive,” and in his weekly column for CP.
