Oklahoma Proposal Requiring Proof of Citizenship to Enroll Children in Public School Ignites GOP Infighting

An Oklahoma proposal approved earlier this year by the Oklahoma State Board of Elections required students to submit their immigration status before school enrollment. That proposal is now currently under the state legislature's review, yet the governor, Kevin Stitt, is seeking to prevent it from becoming law.

Under the proposal, parents or legal guardians are required to provide proof of citizenship of their children when enrolling them in public school, including a U.S. birth certificate, U.S. passport, consular report of birth abroad, permanent resident card or other legal document.

The proposed rule would not prevent students without legal status from enrolling or keep them from attending school. But it would require districts to record the number of students for whom proof of citizenship was not provided and to report those numbers, excluding personally identifiable information, to the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

"We should be utilizing all of our resources to make sure we are supporting what President Trump is wanting to do," Oklahoma schools superintendent Ryan Walters told CBS News.

Walters added that the state is following an executive order signed by Trump immediately after beginning his second term that allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to make arrests near schools and places of worship.

"So, when you have an executive order that says, no longer will churches and schools not give over information that they're asked for, we took that seriously in Oklahoma. So we began to implement it. Well, if you need to get information from us and from our schools, you have to first collect the information," he continued.

There are an estimated 90,000 Oklahoma residents without legal status, including an estimated 6,000 children enrolled in schools in Oklahoma, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Oklahoma is also ranked the 49th state in education in the country.

Though it remains unclear whether the state legislature will swiftly pass the law, one of the proposal's biggest and most surprising critics is conservative Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt. He argues that the Trump administration is not actually requesting the immigration status of students.

"Every time I've heard President Trump talk about this, he's talking about making sure we know who's coming in our country," Stitt told CBS News. "And then also making sure that we get the criminal element out. I've never once heard him say, 'I want to gather up 8-year-olds' immigration status."

As a result, the governor has replaced three Oklahoma State Board of Education members after Walters proposed checking students' immigration status.

"When I found that out, I was going to pull every lever I could to unwind that rule," Stitt said.

Current law affirms the right of children living in the country unlawfully to attend public schools, a decision that was made by the Supreme Court back in 1982. But some conservative lawmakers have questioned whether immigrants without legal residency should have the right to a public education.

However, a White House official told CBS News that it doesn't want undocumented immigrants "or gangs to take refuge and hide out in schools or churches because they know law enforcement can't go inside."