Citizenship Requirements

Overview

Deep divisions mark immigration policy, especially in the United States, over the treatment of undocumented immigrants. Undocumented immigrants face many obstacles, particularly as it comes to receiving services provided by the state. Those obstacles continue to be the subject of intense debates as states necessarily must address issues relating to the funding of those services and the other resources needed to provide them. Education is one of the most important contexts in which these issues emerge, a context that can play a critical role in adolescents’ lives. And it is that context that has laid the foundation for laws in this area and the focus of this entry.

The Leading Case in Citizenship Requirements

In a decisive case decided in 1982, the Supreme Court ruled that undocumented children have a constitutional right to a free public education. That case, Plyler v. Doe (1982), profoundly affected the lives of undocumented families and communities as it granted access to...