Heritage Says States Should Charge Tuition to Illegal Alien Children

Children should not receive a free education at America’s public schools unless they are lawfully present in the United States, a new report from The Heritage Foundation contends.

States and local governments have been “overwhelmed with costs that flow from illegal immigration, including public education,” Lora Ries, director of Heritage’s Border Security and Immigration Center and author of the report, tells The Daily Signal.

The new report, titled “Every State Should Challenge Plyler v. Doe: Time to End Free Education for Illegal Alien K-12 Students,” argues that the 1982 Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe should be overturned. It presents model state legislation to allow schools to charge tuition to students who are illegally present in the U.S.

Plyler v Doe

In Plyler v. Doe, the court ruled 5-4 that a school district could not charge tuition to illegal alien students because it would violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. The clause requires states to treat all residents as equal under the law.