AIRVIEW, N.J. Sept. 20 — On the first day of school here, five of the Medrano children woke up early, scrubbed their faces and put on their new outfits, excited to begin a new year.Posted on 09/21/2002 3:18:57 AM PDT by sarcasm
AIRVIEW, N.J. Sept. 20 — On the first day of school here, five of the Medrano children woke up early, scrubbed their faces and put on their new outfits, excited to begin a new year.
A day later, the children — two pairs of siblings and a cousin — were abruptly ordered out of school before lunchtime by the district superintendent, who said he had just discovered their parents were in this country illegally.
Now, three weeks into the new school year, the children are spending their days at home here as their mothers — two sisters and a niece — agonize over how to get them back into school.
The mothers, their lawyer and immigration experts said that school officials had no right to ask a parent's immigration status, and that even if the family was here illegally, the children had a constitutional right to a public education.
But David Verducci, the superintendent of the tiny Fairview school district in Bergen County, said that when he learned that the mothers, who are from El Salvador but are citizens of Canada, were here on expired tourist visas, he had an obligation to turn them away.
"We do not go out looking within the school district to find people in this situation so we can keep them out," Dr. Verducci said on Thursday. "But once it came to our attention, to ignore it would have been a violation of the federal rules."
Dr. Verducci said he was basing his decision on his interpretation of the Immigration and Naturalization Service code. But Louis Zayas, the family's lawyer, and other immigration experts said Dr. Verducci was in violation of a 1982 United States Supreme Court ruling that declared that the children of illegal immigrants were entitled to a free public education.
"The immigrant status of the parents is entirely irrelevant," Mr. Zayas said. "The law of the land says that children still have a right to a public education as long as they live in Fairview. The superintendent was unauthorized to ask about their legal status in the first place."
Education officials in Trenton seemed to agree with Mr. Zayas. This afternoon, Judith Weiss, an assistant education commissioner, spoke with Dr. Verducci after receiving an inquiry from The New York Times. In that conversation, she said, he agreed to let the children back in school by Monday, while state officials reviewed the basis for his decision.
"The superintendent is not supposed to ask about the immigrant status of the family," Ms. Weiss said. Dr. Verducci did not return calls for comment today.
"All I wanted was for my children to go to school," Evudiges Medrano said today. "I tell my children that education is like food, it is so important."
A few hours later, however, Ms. Medrano was upset again. After waiting for official word from school administrators about her children's status, she called the principal at one of the children's schools. The principal told her that she could not let the children back in without written authorization from the superintendent, which she had not received by the end of the school day.
Ms. Medrano's two children, Franklin, 13, and Kelly, 7, both attended Fairview schools last year. So did her sister Flor's daughter, Ashley, 11. This year they were to be joined by Flor's youngest, Brandon, who at 5 would be starting kindergarten, and Evudiges and Flor Medrano's niece Norma's son, Jessie, 8.
Before school began, the schools had asked her for more documentation about one child's immunizations, and further proof of residency for the two new children, Ms. Medrano said. By the first day of school, thinking all was in order, she took the children to school.
But she was then told that the superintendent wanted to meet with her and her sister and niece at 9 a.m. on the second day of school. Dr. Verducci asked them what their legal status was, Ms. Medrano said.
Lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union's Immigrants' Rights Project have also offered to represent the family. Lucas Guttentag, director of the project, said they would like to find out if Dr. Verducci had tried to keep other children out of his district by asking their parents about their immigration status, which he said was illegal.
"The law is crystal clear on this," Mr. Guttentag said from California. "It's shocking to hear when something like this happens, but every now and then you do hear of a school official who seems not to be aware of their obligation to educate all children, no matter what their immigrant status, and then they have to be reminded."
It sure is shocking, that illegals aren't sent out of the country. It's shocking that checking status isn't part of enrolling students...it's illegal to check??
Every day, something even more amazing comes up.
The most amazing part of this to me is that nobody is going for the most obvious solution,have the INS pick them all up and deport them back to Canada. Problem solved.
I wonder how many other people are getting into the country though our borders up north and forgetting to return.
I bet a lot more than we realize.
I am shocked this is coming out of New Jersey.
And I'm shocked -- no make that amazed -- that these children were tossed out of school beause they are illegals. In Jersey the only thing that gets you tossed out of school is the concealed carry of a pencil
Universal human rights trump considerations of nationalism, culture and citizenship every time.
But, wait a minute, I thought Canada was our friend?
< / sarcasm >
Lousy bastids know how to stroke the system. First thing they learn is to get a lawyer.
The lawyer charges nothing until damages are collected.
Excuse me, but please point out to me exactly WHERE in the Bill of Rights it says anything about the "right of children who are ILLEGAL ALIENS to a free education at taxpayers expense"??
I can see such a requirement for citizens of other countries who are here LEGALLY (various visas), but not those who are here in willing violation of our immigration laws. Send them back to wherever they came from (Canada in this case).
(With reference to the Bill of Rights, I would say that for the Left, "human" rights trump the Bill of Rights. But that's another thread...)
El Salvador was no good for them. Canada is not good enough for them. They just don't feel right unless they scam their way into the good ol' USofA!
I would love to hear the reason they left Canada (where the mothers were citizens) to squat here illegally. I'm sure they have some reason/lie/excuse. They always, always do. Always tailor made for stpuid guilty white liberals.
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