Alabama Immigration Law Will Have ‘Continuing and Lasting’ Effects on Hispanic Students, Feds Say
The U.S. Department of Justice has issued a stark warning against Alabama’s controversial immigration law, which feds say has caused “increased hostility, bullying and intimidation,” leading to a surge in school absences among Hispanic students, and will have “continuing and lasting” consequences.
The immigration law HB 56 and Section 28 have “diminished access to and quality of education for many of Alabama’s Hispanic children, resulted in missed school days, chilled or prevented the participation of parents in their children’s education, and transformed the climates of some schools into less safe and welcoming spaces for Hispanic children,” Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Thomas Perez wrote in a letter to Alabama Superintendent of Education Thomas Bice.
The Justice Department sued Alabama last fall over that statute in the state’s H.B. 56 — signed by Republican Gov. Robert Bentley in June — that requires schools to collect information on the immigration status of students who seek enrollment, though it does not block undocumented students from enrolling in the public school system. A federal appeals court last October blocked the state from implementing the statute, but ruled to stay parts of the law.
The latest letter, dated May 1, was released Thursday in the state. Perez notes that Hispanic student absence rates tripled immediately following the implementation of the law, while absence rates for other groups largely remained flat. He adds that the rate of Hispanic student withdrawals also “substantially increased” compared to previous years, as 13.4 percent of the state’s students dropped out between the beginning of the school year and February 2012. (See letter below).
Alabama’s Education Department spokesperson Malissa Valde-Hubert told POLITICO that 1,374 Hispanic students were absent from public schools on May 2, out of a total of 33,182 K-12 students across the state. Student absences usually numbered between 900 and 1,000 daily in previous years.