Walters v. Mayorkas - District Court

[ARCHIVED - September 2025]

In this case, three plaintiffs—the state of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State Department of Education, and the Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction and President of the State Board of Education Ryan Walters—sued the Biden Administration over their alleged immigration policies and actions at the southern border that have resulted in an increase in undocumented immigrant children in the state of Oklahoma. Given that under federal law Oklahoma is required to provide free public education to all who reside within the state, regardless of immigration status, plaintiffs allege that the increased number of undocumented immigrant children living in Oklahoma and attending public schools in the state has and will continue to impose a significant financial burden on the plaintiffs and the state.

Plaintiffs are seeking injunctive relief in the form of reimbursements from the federal government for current and future expenses (e.g., hiring bilingual teachers and personnel, hiring more school counselors to address academic concerns among immigrant children, and increased costs due to the academic and language assessments necessary to educate undocumented children) stemming from their mandatory requirement to provide free public education to all minor children residing in the state and enrolled in public schools, including undocumented students.

The parties are currently briefing the federal government’s motion to dismiss.