The Oklahoma Board of Education approved a measure requiring parents to provide their child’s immigration status when enrolling them in school.
The measure passed Tuesday in a 6-0 vote after a brief 20-minute discussion. Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters dismissed the “gaslighting” and “lies” by the media and critics, arguing that the proposal was only a data-gathering measure.
“Our rule around illegal immigration accounting is simply that. It is to account for how many students of illegal immigrants are in our schools,” he said, according to CNN.
The measure must still be approved by the Republican-controlled state legislature and Gov. Kevin Stitt (R-OK).
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the state Capitol to demonstrate, waving the Mexican and other foreign flags.
The measure comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order allowing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents into schools, which Walters has said he supports.
“Schools are crippled by the flood of illegal immigrants and the Biden/Harris open border policy. Oklahomans and the country elected President Trump and we will do everything possible to help put Oklahoma students first,” he said.
Immigration activists have criticized the policy of allowing ICE agents into schools, saying it will make illegal immigrants and families afraid of going to school.
Homeland security adviser Stephen Miller defended the move as necessary to combat child trafficking, telling reporters that the only thing endangering children’s lives and safety was turning away law enforcement officers from schools.
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“There’s no sanctuary for criminal aliens in this country, nor is there a sanctuary for child trafficking, for child smuggling, or for child endangerment,” he told Fox News on Friday.
“ICE officers will take the actions necessary to protect the lives and safety of our children and to identify individuals who are involved in the smuggling and trafficking of our children in order to conduct these investigations, in order to protect the safety and security of children all across America, federal law enforcement is unrestricted access to conduct basic investigations,” Miller added.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
