Which States Are Challenging Undocumented Students’ Right to Free Education?

Under Plyler v. Doe, the U.S. Supreme Court mandates a free, public education for all children, regardless of immigration status.

By Ileana Najarro & Daniela Franco Brown — March 17, 2025 | Updated: January 06, 2026 2 min read

Save to favorites
Print

Email Facebook LinkedIn Twitter

Copy URL

The U.S. Supreme Court granted undocumented students the constitutional right to a free, public education in a landmark ruling in the 1982 Plyler v. Doe case.

On the heels of President Donald Trump’s re-election and assertive immigration enforcement agenda, a new wave of political and policy momentum to prevent or limit access for such students is gaining traction at the state level.

At least two states are currently proposing action to limit undocumented students’ access to a free, public education. At least one state is currently proposing to protect this right, and at least two states have enacted such protections. Recent efforts in five other states have been paused or failed, according to an Education Week analysis.

In the seminal case—one of the most important for education and civil rights—the justices ruled 5-4 that Texas violated the 14^th Amendment’s equal protection clause by withholding funds from school districts for the education of undocumented children. The high court’s ruling is why public schools don’t request or collect immigration status information upon enrollment.

In the more than four decades since the ruling, some states and school districts mounted unsuccessful efforts to undermine Plyler.

The Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank behind the Project 2025 policy playbook that is driving much of Trump’s agenda, published a brief recommending that states “require school districts to collect enrollment data by immigration status as part of their regular enrollment counts” to better calculate the costs associated with educating undocumented students, and to “pass legislation that requires public schools to charge tuition for unaccompanied migrant children,” including charging tuition for students from undocumented families.

“Such legislation would draw a lawsuit from the Left, which would likely lead the Supreme Court to reconsider its ill-considered Plyler v. Doe decision that had no basis in law,” the Heritage Foundation report reads.