Immigration: Feds seek info on Ala. students (AP)

MONTGOMERY, Ala. ? The U.S. Justice Department is requesting that school districts in Alabama turn over enrollment information about all of their students as part of a federal lawsuit challenging the state's tough new immigration law.

The department sent letters Monday to 39 school superintendents seeking lists that include the race and national origin of students, as well as whether English is their primary language. Justice department attorneys also are seeking the names of students who have withdrawn from school and the dates they left.

The Obama administration is concerned that the law enacted by Alabama's GOP-controlled legislature this year may chill student participation. The agency wants the information to determine if further action is warranted.

Justice Department spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa said the letter went to districts with significant Hispanic populations. Alabama has 132 school districts.

Federal courts have put on hold a portion of Alabama's law that requires schools to report the number, but not the names, of students whose immigration status is in question.

State Sen. Scott Beason, a Gardendale Republican who sponsored the law, said the Justice Department's letter shows the importance of compiling information. "They are asking for the same student information we tried to get. They are proving our point," he said.

The Justice Department's letter reminds school superintendents that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1982 that schools may not deny a student access based on immigration status and that the Justice Department enforces civil rights laws.

Beason said the Alabama law only sought statistics and did not deny enrollment to any illegal immigrant.

Michael Sibley, spokesman for the state Department of Education, said the Justice Department went directly to city and county superintendents rather than going through the department. He said he's not aware of the Justice Department ever seeking lists of students' names before in Alabama.

He said schools will need to devote significant resources and staff time to meet the Justice Department's deadline of Nov. 14.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111102/ap_on_re_us/us_alabama_immigration_law

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