Student Immigration Status at Issue In Recent Incidents

By Mary Ann Zehr

Several recent incidents involving undocumented immigrant students in American schools have drawn conflicting responses from lawmakers on how the U.S. government should deal with such students, particularly when their illegal status becomes public.

On one end of the spectrum are U.S. Sen. Orrin G. Hatch and U.S. Rep. Christopher B. Cannon, both Republicans from Utah, who are sponsoring federal bills that would permit certain undocumented youths who were college-bound to gain legal residency.

On the other end is U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., who last month personally telephoned a U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service official in Colorado, asking him to look into deporting an undocumented family that included a 17-year-old high school student who had advocated in the Denver Post that he be permitted to...