A group of House Republicans are seeking to overturn Plyler v. Doe, a 44-year-old landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ensures all children have access to a public education regardless of their immigration status.
The push to overturn the 1982 decision arose during a March 18, 2026 hearing by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government.
Citing English learner expenses, Republicans said that not being required to educate undocumented children would free up school district dollars and other resources for American students.
However, Thomas Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and a witness at the hearing, said overturning the Supreme Court case would incentivize children whose peers or siblings are undocumented to also skip school and make it nearly impossible to enforce truancy policies.
Plyler v. Doe guarantees undocumented immigrants a free public education under the 14th Amendment. Plyler, which challenged a Texas law requiring undocumented immigrants to pay a “tuition fee” for their children or be barred from enrolling entirely, has also served as the legal basis for many other more recent decisions from Supreme Court and lower courts.
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