Supporting Immigrant Students Through Advocacy

Public schools, by law, must serve all children. Community advocates across the country are taking steps to protect immigrant children’s access to education in the current atmosphere of political discourse that attacks immigration and threatens immigrant families.

Below are resources and tools for you by IDRA, federal agencies and others.

Good Things to Share

Navigating In-State Tuition in Texas High School Parents (English-Spanish), 2025

Texas College Guide for Parents of College Students (English-Spanish), 2025

Infographic for school community and families: Welcoming Immigrant Students in School (Available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, Mandarin)

Infographic for educators: 10 Strategies for How Schools Should Respond to Help Children Impacted by ICE Raids (Available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, Mandarin)

Texas K-12 Toolkit: Understanding the Impact of Immigration Enforcement and Policy on Texas K–12 Schools – This huge resource packet provides practical guidance, policy context, and tools to help educators, administrators, and staff create safe, inclusive, and supportive environments for all students and families

U.S. Department of Education Dear Colleague Letter to Educators, School Leaders and Families: Resources for Ensuring Equal Access to Education for Immigrant Students, January 8, 2025

News

Alert: Texas Dreamers Won’t Be Silenced – IDRA and TxILC file amicus brief to urge court to protect the Texas Dream Act View as Webpage • October 8, 2025 Texas Dreamers Won’t Be Silenced IDRA and TxILC, October 8, 2025

Court Blocks Rule Excluding Immigrant Children from Head Start, by Tionna Ryan & Paige Duggins-Clay, J.D., October 8, 2025

Texas Students Should be Protected to Pursue and Continue their College Dreams – IDRA Testimony to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board on Proposed Rules Changes to Residency Determination (Title 19, Part 1, Ch. 13, Subchapter K, §§13.191–13.203) and Tuition Waivers & Exemptions (§13.465). Submitted by Chloe Latham Sikes, Ph.D., September 22, 2025

Click to Act: Protect Texas Dreamers: Texas Policy Action Alert: Legislative Changes and Urgent Advocacy Actions (English • Spanish) September 16, 2025

Students Face Confusion and College Dead-Ends After Sudden Blockage of the Texas Dream Act, September 2025

Education Week: Undocumented Students Have the Right to a Free Education. This Is Why, November 2024 – Chloe

San Antonio Express News (forthcoming) – Chloe

‘It is an empty threat’ | Organization, local schools react to Gov. Abbott’s remarks on challenging Plyler v. Doe, 2022 – Celina

K-12 Dive: Schools take proactive steps to protect immigrant students, December 2024

Learn about the Texas Dream Act

In 2001, Texas led the nation by passing a visionary law that has since opened opportunities for countless Texas Dreamers – many who have lived in Texas most of their lives and are now the teachers, nurses, engineers and entrepreneurs who help our communities thrive.

Texas Dreamers Won’t Be Silenced – IDRA and TxILC File Amicus Brief on Behalf of Business, Faith, Educator and Student Groups Urging the Fifth Circuit to Protect the Texas Dream Act, October 8, 2025

IDRA, alongside the Texas Immigration Law Council and a broad coalition of business, faith, educator and student groups, filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in U.S. v. Texas to do what Texas state leaders refused to do: defend the Texas Dream Act and the ability of Texas high school graduates to access and succeed in college, regardless of immigration status, October 7, 2025

Students Face Confusion and College Dead-Ends After Sudden Blockage of the Texas Dream Act, by Julieta Garibay, IDRA Newsletter, September 2025

Click to Act: Protect Texas Dreamers: Texas Policy Action Alert: Legislative Changes and Urgent Advocacy Actions (English • Spanish) September 16, 2025

Texas Dream Act Blocked – State Leaders Risk College Access for Thousands of Texas Students – IDRA Statement, June 5, 2025

Amicus brief for a case currently pending before the U.S. Supreme Court: Young Conservatives of Texas Foundation v. Neal Smatresk, President of the University of North Texas; Shannon Goodman, Vice President for Enrollment of the University of North Texas (No. 22-40225), August 1, 2022

IDRA Denounces Court Ruling Jeopardizing Texas’ Dream Act – IDRA Statement, April 13, 2022

Support for a Clean Dream Act – Statement by the Texas Latino Education Coalition, 2017

The Law in Education – YCT v Smatresk at UNT – Classnotes Podcast #243, July 1, 2024

Supportive College Climates for Undocumented Students – Classnotes Podcast #242, April 29, 2024

Learn about Plyler vs. Doe

This U.S. Supreme Court Decision guarantees immigrant students’ right to attend public school

Fact sheet containing information on the rights of all children to enroll in school. The fact sheet is also available in Spanish.

Joint guidance letter from the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice describing the obligations of states and school districts under federal law to provide all children — regardless of immigration status — with equal access to public education at the elementary and secondary levels. The letter also is available in Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Korean, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.

Plyler v Doe at 40 – Schooling Guaranteed for Immigrant Children – See IDRA’s video interview launched on the 40th anniversary of Plyler v Doe featuring Dr. Albert Cortez, who testified in one of the cases in Texas. He sat down with IDRA chief legal analyst, Paige Duggins-Clay, J.D., to discuss the history of the case, the plaintiffs, the arguments, and the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. This interview is also available as a Classnotes Podcast.