A report by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association New Orleans, a community organization, has found that two-thirds of New Orleans public schools had registration forms that could discourage undocumented immigrants from enrolling, possibly in violation of federal law.

The report, released on Oct. 15, said that 53 of the city’s 83 public schools used registration forms this year that asked families to provide a Social Security number while 12 asked for Louisiana-issued identification, both forms of identification that undocumented students would not have.

The federal government has explicitly said that public schools may not require families to submit a Social Security number, U.S. birth certificate, state-issued driver’s license or any other document that an undocumented immigrant would be unable to produce.

Schools may ask for these documents but must clearly state that they are not required, which the schools in question did not do. At least one school’s form said that a Social Security number is required, while the majority asked for the information without indicating that it was optional.

NOLA.com, Oct. 15