‘Unchecked illegal immigration’: Massachusetts parents brace for stream of immigrant children in classrooms

Amid a nationwide influx of illegal immigrants, public schools such as Norfolk School District in Massachusetts are trying to soothe parents’ concerns about the impact on their children’s education.

The Norfolk School Committee has engaged district families on multiple occasions to discuss plans to handle the influx of immigrant children being housed in the former Baystate Correctional Facility in Norfolk. Dr. Ingrid Allardi, district superintendent, says the state has not yet shared the exact number of students who will be joining classrooms in the new school year.

The school committee has requested state funding for emergency aid reimbursement, which would cover approximately $104 in costs per student per day. However, parents maintain concerns about both lack of space and resources – including that the district currently employs only two ESL teachers. 

Some policy experts are urging the next presidential administration to address the impact of allowing undocumented minors to enroll in public education. According to a recent report from the Heritage Foundation, whose Project 2025 initiative seeks to outline policy priorities for the next conservative president, the price of educating immigrant children has cost taxpayers in the states of California, New York, Texas, and Arizona a combined three-quarters of a billion dollars. 

“Unchecked illegal immigration over the past three years has had adverse effects on public education. Not only must the federal government secure the border and prevent illegal migration, but states should also take action,” the report recommends.  

The Heritage Foundation also suggests that states pass legislation charging tuition for undocumented minors being educated in public schools so as not to overburden taxpayers.  

Currently, Supreme Court precedent set in the 1982 Plyler v. Doe decision provides that young people have a constitutional right to a free and public education – regardless of their immigration status. The decision reasoned that undocumented immigrants and their children are afforded Fourteenth Amendment protections and denying them an education does not serve a compelling state interest. 

That decision has long faced criticism from those whose state education systems are more drastically impacted by the presence of undocumented immigrants, however. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has expressed his concerns about the implications of the ruling due to the heavy financial burden it imposes on certain states. 

“The Supreme Court has ruled states have no authority themselves to stop illegal immigration into the states,” Abbott said.  

“However, after the Plyler decision they say, ‘Nevertheless, states have to come out of pocket to pay for the federal government’s failure to secure the border.’ So, one or both of those decisions will have to go,” the governor concluded.