Trustees Drop Plan to Bill Mexico for Schooling

Two Anaheim school trustees drafting a plan to bill Mexico and other countries for the education of illegal immigrants have abandoned the idea after concluding it is illegal.

Anaheim Union High School District trustees Alexandria Coronado and Robert Stewart instead will present a resolution at a public workshop today that holds the federal government accountable “for failing to protect our borders,” Coronado said Friday. No vote is expected.

The controversial proposal seeking payment from foreign countries for educating undocumented students was put forth by board President Harald Martin, an Anaheim police officer who proposed billing Mexico in 1995 and again this year. The board unanimously endorsed Martin’s plan, which included all foreign countries, July 15 and recommended that it be sent on to a subcommittee, which was to draft a resolution seeking the payments.

The five-member board is still scheduled to vote on a resolution Aug. 19.

Since the July 15 vote, Coronado said, she has discovered that international law protects foreign governments from suing each other. Any nation that received a bill from Anaheim could cite the principle of sovereign immunity to win a court battle, Coronado said.

Coronado, however, still supports Martin’s idea that the INS be asked to count the number of undocumented students in the district in order to seek reimbursement from the federal government.