section_path: Education
section_name: Education
paragraph_text: Education
  
  An estimated 65,000 undocumented youth graduate from high school every year but only 5 to 10 percent go on to college. Research shows that policies regarding tuition and admissions procedures, impact students the most. As of October 2015, twenty states had given undocumented students' in-state resident tuition (ISRT) while five states had completely prohibited their enrollment. Although states grant undocumented students resident tuition, federal laws do not award undocumented immigrants financial aid. Without financial aid, students cannot afford higher education, making it difficult for this community to attain social mobility.
  
  In 1982, Plyler vs Doe granted all students, regardless of status, the right to a public K-12 education. The ruling found that denying undocumented students access to public education outweighed the effects of not educating them, however states continued implementing policies that challenged the Supreme Court decision. In 1994, California implemented Proposition 187, prohibiting undocumented students from enrolling in schools and required educators to report students who they suspected were undocumented. Likewise, the state of Alabama in 2011, requiring administrators to report the status of recently enrolled students; which resulted in a 13% dropout rate that year.
  
  Organizations such as the American Federation of Teachers have created guides for educators of immigrant and refugee students, urging schools to build policies that provide these students with protection from policies that would criminalize them. In 2014, Operation Border Guardians targeted illegal immigrants who had come to the United States as minors and recently turned 18 or were 16 with a criminal history. Federal immigration judges sent out court orders to apprehend students that were not currently appealing their cases. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was detaining students on their way to school. When undocumented students turn eighteen, their youth status no longer protects them from immigration policies such as deportation. The National Education Association (NEA) and the National School Board Association (NSBA) in 2009, created guidelines for educators working with undocumented students, informing school personnel about their students' rights concerning immigration legislation as it transpires in the community. The American Federation of Teachers created a guideline specifically speaking to concern regarding deportation.
  
  A case study conducted on Aurora Elementary examined how school personnel quickly developed boundaries to ensure the safety of their students when ICE appeared in the community. The study evaluated how educators' established school policies with limited knowledge regarding policies. In the study, 14 staff members of Aurora spoke about the fear it created in the community. The school was placed on an unofficial lockdown, and no one was to leave campus unless given permission. Days following the event, parents stopped sending their children to school. After speaking to the district's legal department, they informed her that they would not be able to do anything in their part, but that she could call families and inform them about the ICE raids. She worked with school personnel to create school policies that protected the students when immigration legislation transpired in the community. Further, aligning school policies with district goals to ensure that undocumented students' education is protected.
  
  Studies have shown that illegal immigrants are wary of disclosing their immigration status to counselors, teachers and mentors. In other words, undocumented students sometimes did not disclose their status to the very individuals that could help them find pathways to higher education.