Immigrant Students' Rights and School Responsibilities

Do I have a right to attend public school in Maine?

Yes. Undocumented children cannot be denied their right to a free public education. Schools should not require families to prove their immigration status to enroll their children in school.

Students with limited English proficiency cannot be turned away by public schools, which must provide them with language instruction.

Schools are not permitted to discriminate against students based on race, color, or national origin.

Do I have a right to be protected from bullying and harassment at school based on my family’s immigration status or country of origin?

Yes. You have a right to attend school free of bullying. Bullying encompasses any conduct that creates an intimidating or hostile environment for a student based on race, religion, national origin, family status, or any other distinguishing personal characteristic. Bullying could include racial slurs, anti-Muslim or anti-immigrant remarks, or comments about a student’s nationality or ethnicity.

Public schools in Maine are required to adopt policies providing channels to report bullying and procedures for promptly investigating and responding to incidents of bullying. 

Can my school district ask about my citizenship or immigration status for proof that I live in the school district?

No. School districts may not ask about a student’s citizenship or immigration status as proof of a student’s residency within a district. Your school may not stop you from enrolling if you do not provide that information. 

Do I have the right to withhold information on my citizenship or immigration status from my school district?

Yes. You have the right to withhold information on your citizenship or immigration status from your school. Your school may not stop you from enrolling if you do not provide that information.

Can my school district request my birth certificate as proof of my age?

Yes, but your school district may not stop you from enrolling in school because you lack a birth certificate or were born in a foreign country. So, while your school can ask for your birth certificate, you do not have to provide it and can show other documents instead.

If I don’t have a birth certificate, can my family or I use other documents to prove my age when I enroll in school? 

Yes. Your school district must have a policy indicating what documents you or your family can use to verify your age for school enrollment purposes. Generally, you can submit a birth certificate, an official baptism certificate, or passport.  If you don’t have any of these documents available to you, the school must accept reasonable alternative documents that establish your age.  

Who is an unaccompanied minor for purposes of school enrollment and what documents do they need to enroll in school?

For school enrollment purposes, an “unaccompanied minor” or “unaccompanied youth” refers to a child or youth who is homeless and not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian. Learn who is considered “homeless” or “unhoused” under federal law for school purposes here.

Students in this category are protected by the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which requires schools to immediately enroll these students without any proof of residency or other documentation. 

Can my K-12 Maine public school require me to provide a Social Security number to enroll?

No. Your K-12 Maine public school cannot require you, or your family members, to provide a Social Security number to enroll. This means that your school may not stop you from enrolling because you or your family do not provide social security numbers to the school. 

Are schools required to enforce immigration laws?

No. Schools are not required and cannot be forced to enforce immigration laws.

Will ICE conduct immigration enforcement actions on my school campus?

Possibly. In January of 2025, the Trump Administration rescinded guidance that generally limited enforcement of immigration law on school campuses. U.S. government policy now generally allows ICE to conduct such actions.

Students, parents, and school staff should remain vigilant.  By knowing your rights and knowing what to do if confronted by a law enforcement agent seeking to enforce federal immigration laws, you can protect yourself, your family, and your school community as best as possible under difficult circumstances. For more general information on your rights interacting with immigration enforcement, see our general immigrants' rights page here, and learn more about immigration warrants here.

Does my family have the right to control who sees my student records held by my school?

Generally, yes, but there are exceptions. A federal law called the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (also known as “FERPA”) requires that your school ask for your permission before it discloses information in your student records. But there are limited circumstances when your school can share your student records without your permission, including an exception for “directory information” and an exception for valid judicial warrants and subpoeanas. These exceptions are described in detail below.

Which records does FERPA apply to?

Education records protected by the federal privacy law, FERPA, are files, documents or other materials that contain information directly related to you and are kept by your school. Generally, education records can include materials like your grades, attendance history, or disciplinary records. 

What is directory information?

Directory information is basic information about you, like your name, address, phone number, date and place of birth, dates of attendance, and awards.

Schools can share this if they have a policy that permits sharing it unless your parents tell them not to release your directory information. If you are a student protected by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (see above), then your school is not permitted to disclose your directory information without your or your guardian’s written consent. Once you turn 18 years old and become an “eligible student,” you can tell your school not to share this information.

Your parent/caregiver (or you if you are an eligible student) should ask your school to not to share your directory information if you are concerned about law enforcement agents, including those engaged in immigration enforcement actions, accessing your information like your home address or place of birth. However, note that opting out of sharing your directory information may cause other disruptions.

Can my school share directory information like my place of birth with law enforcement agents or immigration enforcement authorities without my family’s permission?

Maybe, but there are ways to stop this.

Your school may share directory information—like your place of birth, email, phone number, and address— if they have a policy that allows for its release and they annually notify families about this policy. (See above for more information about directory information.) Regardless of the policy, your school may not release your directory information to anyone if your family (or you if you’re an eligible student under FERPA) tells them not to share it. Check with your school to see what their policy is and opt-out of having your information shared if you want that.

Also, if you’re concerned, you can ask your school or school district to have a policy that protects student privacy by not sharing directory information with any law enforcement authorities, including those engaged in immigration enforcement, except where required by law.

What is a subpoena or court order to obtain information from my education records at school?

A subpoena is a legal document that indicates the person or entity receiving the subpoena (for example, your school) must share specific information with a court or law enforcement agency. 

A court order is when a judge officially tells the person or entity (for example, your school) to share your information.

There are different types of subpoenas and court orders. Whether your school must comply with them depends on what type of subpoena or court order it receives, and these obligations must be balanced with other laws, like student privacy laws.

What happens if law enforcement agents, such as federal immigration agents, provide my school with a subpoena or court order for my education records?

If a law enforcement agent, whether local or federal, provides your school with a subpoena or court order for your education records, the school is not obligated to provide your records right away. In these situations, the school usually has to let your parents know about the subpoena or court order before the school provides your records to the agency requesting them. This gives your family a chance to take legal steps if they want to protect your information from being shared. But there are exceptions when your school may not be allowed to notify your family about the subpoena or court order; for example:

• If the subpoena is from a federal grand jury and the court says it has to stay secret, the school can’t tell your parents.
• If it’s a subpoena for law enforcement purposes and the court orders secrecy, the school won’t notify your parents.
• If it’s related to terrorism or other federal crime investigations and either the United States Attorney General or designee not lower than an Assistant Attorney General obtains a court order, then your records can be shared without anyone being notified.
• If the parent is a party to a court proceeding involving child abuse, neglect, or other dependency matters and the judicial order is issued in the context of that proceeding, the school won’t notify your parent.

Before complying with a subpoena or court order for your education records, school officials should consult with the superintendent, and the superintendent should consult with the school’s attorney. If you’re concerned, you can ask your school or school district to train its employees to follow these steps before complying. 

Are there steps my school can take to protect students from immigration enforcement authorities?

Yes, there are many additional steps that school officials, teachers, and other school employees can take to protect students. These include the following:

• Establishing a centralized procedure or protocol for how to respond to any law enforcement presence at schools, sharing it with all school employees in written form and through trainings, and taking other steps to ensure that all school employees are aware of the policy and will know what to do if an officer appears.
• Establishing a written policy and putting up signs clearly identifying which areas at the school are private and are not open to the public (e.g. anything past the visitors’ side of a school’s front desk including the inside of a school and classrooms) to preserve students’ Fourth Amendment rights.
• Creating strict procedures for any guest, including law enforcement officers, to enter the school premises, such as requiring all visitors to pass through an administrative office or screening before entering, and requiring law enforcement officers to present a valid judicial warrant or judicial subpoena before entering the property.
• Creating strict procedures for reviewing the validity of a subpoena or court order before compliance, such as requiring that the superintendent be notified and the superintendent to get counsel from the school’s attorney.
• Avoiding collecting information about the immigration status and birthplace of students and students’ families, since a person’s birth abroad can prompt further investigation by immigration officers, and schools can’t share information with immigration enforcement authorities that they don’t have in the first place.

For more resources on how schools can protect students, see our guidance for service providers, the National Immigration Law Center’s (NILC) Guide for Educators and School Support Staff, and NILC's FAQ: Education Providers and Immigration Enforcement: Know Your Rights & Your Student’s Rights.

Are there steps my family and I can take in case my parent or guardian is detained by immigration enforcement authorities?

Yes. You and your family can talk about what to do if a parent or caregiver is detained by immigration enforcement authorities in the future. To help you in this conversation, check out the Immigrant Legal Resource Center’s Family Preparedness Plan.

What else can I do to make sure that I am safe if my parent or guardian is detained by immigration enforcement authorities?

Your school is required to contact those listed in the emergency contact information your parent or caregiver provided to the school if your parent or guardian becomes unavailable to care for you. Encourage your parents to update your emergency contacts at school so your school has updated information on who they should contact if they can’t reach your parent/guardian. 

Also, your school should only call state protective services as a last resort. Your school should never contact immigration enforcement authorities. 

Other organizations provide know-your-rights and preparedness information to students and school officials. These include: 

• National Immigration Law Center (NILC) guidance for educators and school support staff
• Immigrant Legal Resource Center step-by-step family preparedness plan
• My School, My Rights guidance on immigration and students, prepared by ACLU affiliates in California