Immigration outside the law

In 1975, Texas adopted a law allowing school districts to bar children from public schools if they were in the United States unlawfully.

The US Supreme Court responded in 1982 with a landmark decision, Plyler v.

Doe, that kept open the schoolhouse doors, allowing these children to get the education that state law would have denied.

The Court established a child's constitutional right to attend public elementary and secondary schools, regardless of immigration status.

With Plyler, three questions emerged that have remained central to the national conversation about immigration outside the law: What does it mean to be in the country unlawfully?

What is the role of state and local governments in dealing with unauthorized migration?

Are unauthorized migrants