On Jan. 24, Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters said that the Oklahoma State Department of Education will support President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents to enter schools.
“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,” Walters said in a press release. “For years the liberal media has been vilifying Republicans for separating illegal immigrant children from their parents. Now they want us to explain why we’d let ICE agents into schools. The answer is simple: we want to ensure that deported parents are reconnected with their children and keep families together.”
Additionally, Walters proposed an OSDE rule in December requiring schools to ask for proof of citizenship or legal immigration status during enrollment. It wouldn’t prohibit students from attending, but districts would be required to report the undocumented children they have enrolled. If passed, this could go against federal law. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Plyler vs. Doe (1982) that undocumented students have the same right to attend public schools as citizens and permanent residents.
There are over 217,000 immigrants in Oklahoma, according to an American Immigration Council report released in August 2024, with about 9,700 of those children. The report estimates that roughly 68,800 are undocumented. The report primarily used data from 2021.
Local superintendents said they haven’t received any guidance, updates or information on the policy direction from State Superintendent Walters or the OSDE.
Chandler Superintendent Scott Baade said he didn’t feel it would affect his schools as they don’t have undocumented students.
“I would think this would go to courts, and we’ll see, but you never know,” he said. “It doesn’t affect us much, but it’s still, any time you allow agents to come in, that’s concerning.”
After looking into it a bit more, Baade said he believes the policy concerns parents who are being deported and ICE agents coming into schools to retrieve their children so that they wouldn’t be left alone.
Stroud Superintendent Joe Van Tuyl said he doesn’t know of a school district in the state that doesn’t follow federal or state law and that most would try to comply. However, he said he would have to look into it further to know where the policy fits within the law.
“I don’t anticipate concerns in my district. Nor have I had any contact directly or indirectly from any authorities about any plans or any information whatsoever,” he said.
Davenport Superintendent DannyAcord said he was disappointed in the state superintendent, calling Walters unqualified. He said that all kids, no matter their immigration status, have the right to go to school and that his top priority is to make sure all Davenport students are safe under the school’s supervision. Additionally, he doesn’t plan to allow any ICE agents to enter, should they come.
“From an attorney friend of mine, our school is a safe place for our students, and ICE cannot talk to students at school without permission from a court or permission from a guardian of the child,” he said.