Oklahoma Board Of Education Approves Citizenship Proof Requirement For Student Enrollment

Education and immigration advocates label the proposal as "unconstitutional."

The Oklahoma Board of Education voted 6-0 on Jan. 28 to approve a proposal that will require parents to prove their citizenship status when enrolling their children in school, The Hill reported.

Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters claimed the proposal idea was introduced to secure more data. Now in the hands of the state legislature, school districts would have to depend on the total number of students with undocumented parents in the state and would not give out personal information or names of parents. “Our rule around illegal immigration accounting is simply that,” Walters said.

“It is to account for how many students of illegal immigrants are in our schools.”

The proposal backs up claims stating “nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit, or inhibit, any child from receiving the education they are entitled to receive.”

However, the proposal received some backlash from education and immigration advocates, given Walters’ alliance to carry out President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration agenda. The superintendent opened the meeting with criticism of the media’s “lies” and “gaslighting,” according to CNN, surrounding the immigration hot topic. The vote comes just days after Trump signed a series of executive orders to give more power to immigration authorities, including a direct order permitting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to arrest people in schools.

The National Immigration Law Center released a statement accusing the measure of being unconstitutional, given that “all children have a constitutional right to equal access to education regardless of their citizenship or immigration status.” “Requiring school districts to collect information about immigration status illegally chills access to this opportunity, interfering with their ability to focus on their core mission: to educate children and give all students the ability to grow, thrive, and participate fully in our democracy,” the statement read.

Student citizenship doesn’t have to be reported; however, the state education department will work with the school districts to determine where parents will upload their citizenship proof. “It would frankly be a pretty easy change because there’s already a lot of information that we require when a student enrolls in a district,” Walters said.

Walters is known for taking Trump’s agenda very seriously, with immigration as a focus. In early January 2025, he issued a $474 million lawsuit against ICE and leaders of the Department of Homeland Security, accusing them of failing to execute border policies within Oklahoma’s public schools.

Shortly after the proposal’s approval, Walters announced Oklahoma educators would be required to pass the U.S. naturalization test, “demonstrating “a strong understanding of U.S. history to ensure they’re equipped to inspire the next generation with the principles that make our country great.”