Oklahoma Moves to Require Schools to Ask Students’ Immigration Status

Oklahoma education leaders approved a plan on Tuesday to request proof of citizenship or immigration status from families when they enroll their children in public schools.

The new rule would not prevent students who are not citizens or legal immigrants from enrolling, a practice that was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1982. But it would require districts to track and report the number of students whose families have not provided proof of citizenship or legal status.

The rule was a remarkable departure from the noncooperative approach that many large school districts across the nation have taken in response to the Trump administration’s immigration policies, which are expected to cause waves of deportations and could lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to visit schools. It could also prompt swift legal challenges across the state.

Ryan Walters, the state superintendent of schools and a firebrand Republican who supported the new rule, said it aimed to provide the White House with the information needed to enforce its immigration policies in Oklahoma.

Mr. Walters, who clashed with the Biden administration over immigration, has claimed that schools across the state have been “crippled by the flood of illegal immigrants,” and said that “we will do everything possible to help put Oklahoma students first.”

He has announced his intention to support immigration raids in schools “to ensure that deported parents are reconnected with their children and keep families together.”