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Dozens of civil rights organizations are asking U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to clarify her recent contention that schools can decide whether or not to report undocumented students to immigration authorities.

Those comments came during a wide-ranging House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing last week. Rep. Adriano D. Espaillat Cabral, D-N.Y., asked if teachers and principals should call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to report undocumented students.

The secretary’s answer: “That’s a school decision,” DeVos said. “It’s a local community decision. I refer to the fact that we have laws and we also are compassionate. I urge this body and do its job and address and clarify where this confusion around this.”

Espaillat repeated the question and emphasized that immigration law is federal law, but DeVos did not change her stance. He did not say under what circumstances he envisioned educators and schools learning about a student or family’s immigration status.

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