Congressman Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04) joined by Representatives Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) and Frederica Wilson (FL-24) led 77 colleagues on a letter demanding the Department of Education and the Department of Justice to protect English Learners. The agencies recently rescinded 2015 federal guidance that clarified states’ obligations to English Learner students. This rollback threatens to weaken enforcement of existing laws, strip protections for nearly 5 million students nationwide, and limit the ability of parents with limited English proficiency to make informed decisions about their children’s education. The letter calls on the Departments of Education and Justice to:

• Reinstate the 2015 guidance;

• Fully fund and staff the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) and Office of Civil Rights (OCR);

• Restore monitoring and enforcement mechanisms

“This Administration is doing all it can to create an underclass of people by denying even the most basic right, like education, to people with immigrant roots. Nearly 5 million English Learning students nationwide rely on schools to meet their legal obligations regarding their education, and most of them are U.S. citizens. I once was one of these children, and without the additional resources that helped me become fluent, I would not have thrived,” said Rep. García.