Hundreds of thousands of students in the United States are immigrants. They attend school with a variety of legal statuses. Millions more students have family members who are immigrants.
Schools are legally obligated to enroll any immigrant student who is eligible to attend, regardless of legal status.
Schools are also obligated to provide English learners with English-language instruction and ensure that they have access to the core academic content other students have.
But schools aren鈥檛 always meeting those obligations. Researchers have found, for instance, that English learners often aren鈥檛 enrolled in the core courses they need to complete high school.
Beyond these obligations, those familiar with best practices for immigrant students encourage schools to create welcoming learning environments that can help newly arrived students succeed academically and foster their emotional well-being.
Front-desk staff at schools, including security officers, are often the first point of contact for immigrant families seeking to enroll their children. This interaction can make or break a family鈥檚 experience with a school system. As such, these staff members need a basic understanding of immigrant students鈥� rights and schools鈥� responsibilities toward such students.
This downloadable resource outlines schools鈥� legal obligations toward immigrant students and best practices based on federal resources and training from the advocacy group ImmSchools, which it offers to school districts in multiple states. It covers general immigration status terminology, a reminder of immigrant families鈥� rights, and an outline of best practices in registration and day-to-day interactions.
School districts interested in either virtual or in-person training from ImmSchools on supporting immigrant students and their families, including advice on helping students access post-secondary opportunities, can visit and click on 鈥淩equest our programs.鈥�
Additional resources
For more information pertaining to welcoming immigrant students, review the following resources:
- , U.S. departments of Education and Justice
- , U.S. departments of Education and Justice
- , National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition
- , U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Has Consequences. What Schools Can Do to Help, Education Week
