WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, on Tuesday repeatedly pressed Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos in a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on whether she believed schools are legally permitted to report students without documentation to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. After initially – and repeatedly –  declining to provide a direct answer, Secretary DeVos eventually confirmed that she does not believe schools or administrators are allowed to report students to ICE under current federal law.

Prefacing his first question with a concern that the Secretary’s prior comments on the issue were not clear, Murphy asked, “Can a teacher or principal to report an undocumented student under federal law?” Secretary DeVos did not answer the question. It took Murphy six attempts before Secretary DeVos provided a clear response. “You seem to be very purposefully not giving a yes or no answer, and I think there are a lot of educators who want to know whether this is permissible,” an unsatisfied Murphy said on his third attempt. After Secretary DeVos again avoided answering, Murphy asked, “Why are you not answering the question?” Following a brief back-and-forth, Murphy finally asked, “So they can’t call ICE?” “I don’t think they can,” Secretary DeVos finally answered. 

Murphy has long argued that ICE should refrain from enforcement actions that will undermine community institutions or foster distrust of law enforcement. Last year, Murphy and the entire Connecticut congressional delegation sent a letter to then-Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly about confusing and potentially misleading ICE uniforms. “If residents in our communities, particularly our immigrant communities, become fearful that police officers are there to target rather than protect them, public safety will suffer and crimes will be more likely to go unreported,” the delegation wrote. 

A transcript of Murphy’s exchange with Secretary DeVos is below: 

MURPHY: Thank you very much, Chairman. Thank you Madam Secretary for being here today. I think you’ve heard some concern from many of us about the changes in procedures for civil rights investigations and dismissal of claims. And so, let me just try to square some of your opening comments with some of the changes that you’ve been asked about. You’ve made it very clear that you don’t think there should be a one-size-fits-all approach to education in the country, that you think as much authority for making decisions about kids education should be in the hands of local educators, and there’s certainly lots of members of this committee who agree. But on the issue of civil rights, should there be a one-size-fits-all for civil rights protections or should that decision be in the hands of local communities, or should your office consider different community standards regarding issues like civil rights when making decisions? 

DEVOS: The role of the department is an important one in enforcing students’ civil rights and protecting them, and it’s one that I’m committed to and it’s one that the Office of Civil Rights is committed to. 

MURPHY: So, I understand that, but there should be a one-size-fits-all standard for civil rights protections, right? We should have a federal civil rights law. All students should be protected by that under the same standard.

DEVOS: Indeed. 

MURPHY: Okay. Let me ask you about a question you were presented with in a House hearing around the question of whether teachers should refer undocumented students to ICE for immigration enforcement. In the hearing, I think you stated that that should be up to each individual state or school district. Then you released a follow-up statement in which you said that our nation has both a legal and moral obligation to educate every child and that’s well-established under the Supreme Court’s ruling in Plyler and has been consistent in my position since day one. So, I’m worried that that statement is still not clear on this very important question of whether or not a teacher or a principal is allowed to call ICE to report an undocumented student under federal law. Can a teacher or principal call ICE to report an undocumented student under current federal law?

DEVOS: I will refer back again to the settled case in Plyler vs. Doe in 1982, which says that students that are not documented have the right to an education, and I think it’s incumbent on us to ensure that those students have a safe and secure environment to attend school, to learn, and I maintain that. 

MURPHY: So, let me ask that question again. Is it okay - you’re the Secretary of Education, there are a lot of schools that want guidance and want to understand what the law is – is it okay for a teacher or principal to call ICE to report and undocumented student?

DEVOS: I think a school is a sacrosanct for a student to be able to learn and they should be protected there.

MURPHY: Is that a… You seem to be very purposefully not giving a yes or no answer, and I think there’s a lot of educators who want to know whether this is permissible.

DEVOS: I think educators know in their hearts that they need to ensure that students have a safe space to learn.

MURPHY: Well, it’s not… Why’re you so… Why are you not answering the question? 

DEVOS: I think I am answering the question. 

MURPHY: Well, the question is yes or no. Can a principal call ICE on a student? Is that allowed under federal law? You’re the Secretary of Education.

DEVOS: In a school setting, a student has the right to be there and the right to learn. And so everything surrounding that should protect that and enhance that student’s opportunity and that student’s environment. 

MURPHY: So they can’t call ICE?

DEVOS: I don’t think they can. 

MURPHY: Okay, thank you. Lastly, on your school safety commission. I guess I’m just trying to square, again this belief about not having one-size-fits-all with the goal of the commission to establish the best practices. So, how do you do both, because if you just give a menu to schools, that might not be terribly helpful. What would be helpful would be to look at evidence, what works, what doesn’t. Obviously you know my interest in making sure that teachers aren’t armed. I would argue that if you look at the evidence it won’t point you in the direction of arming teachers. But, I’m out of time here, but just how do you balance telling schools what works based on the evidence versus not having a one-size-fits-all presentation on the issue of school safety?

DEVOS: Well, I don’t think it’s the role of the federal Department of Education to tell schools what they can and should do or what they can and should not do. It is the role for states and local communities to decide what is going to be best to protect their students. And we know that there are countless legislatures at the state level debating how they’re going to address these issues now. The role of the safety commission is to ensure that we raise up these practices and encourage states to look at them and encourage communities to look at them. One of the first things that we did is to go back to the reports following Sandy Hook, following Columbine, and Virginia Tech and to look at what actually has been adopted in places, and that’s being assessed now, but evidence-based approaches that have been demonstrated to work. We need to urge and encourage more of those to be broadly adopted.

MURPHY: Great, thank you.  

###