Lucille Roybal-Allard: “I rise in opposition to the Rohrabacher amendment. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act has been a vital source of…”

“I rise in opposition to the Rohrabacher amendment. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act has been a vital source of Federal funding for our public school systems, particularly for disadvantaged youth. This politically motivated amendment would effectively defeat the true purpose of the act and impose additional and unnecessary administrative burdens. It is an unfunded Federal mandate that will neither improve our schools nor address Federal immigration policies. There are those who have argued that a census count of undocumented students is a minor administrative duty. I assure you, however, that in communities such as Los Angeles, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to verify the immigration status of all students and their parents. Our school districts already lack sufficient resources to meet the educational needs of our children. They are not in a position, nor should they be placed in a position, to do the work of the INS. The anti-immigrant climate apparently has no boundaries within reason or humanity. This amendment will only harm our schools and should be defeated.”