Schools Impose New Immigration Checks

IMMIGRATION RULES HIT THE CLASSROOM: A new immigration policy at Georgia’s five most competitive colleges has so far resulted in only one illegal immigrant being turned away after being accepted. A policy adopted by Georgia’s Board of Regents last October requires that students prove legal immigration status before they can enroll at any state college that turned away qualified candidates in the past two years, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports. That currently includes the University of Georgia, Georgia State University, Georgia Tech, Georgia College and State University and Georgia Health Sciences University. Georgia State turned away one student who had been preliminarily accepted, while Georgia Tech canceled the applications for three academically qualified applicants when it learned they were illegal immigrants.

In Alabama, meanwhile, a new immigration law requiring public schools to document the immigration status of their students hasn’t led to reduced Hispanic enrollment, school officials tell the Associated Press. The law doesn’t bar illegal immigrants from attending schools, but requires school districts to keep track of how many illegal immigrants are enrolled so the state can estimate the cost of educating them. Schools code students differently, based on their immigration status, Education Week previously reported.
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