Dive Brief:

• The U.S. Department of Education released a document Monday chronicling education options for illegal immigrants. 
• The fact sheet specifically focused on public education opportunities for the tens of thousands of unaccompanied and undocumented minors who have entered the United States this year.  
• The right to an education is stressed in the document: “All children in the United States are entitled to equal access to a public elementary and secondary education, regardless of their or their parents' actual or perceived national origin, citizenship, or immigration status.” 

Dive Insight:

The document goes on to expound on this right, explaining that free education is also a right of, "recently arrived unaccompanied children, who are in immigration proceedings while residing in local communities with a parent, family member, or other appropriate adult sponsor.”

According to Breitbart, over 62,900 unaccompanied minors — many from Central America —​ have been detained for illegally entering the country since the fall of 2013. When detained, minors become wards of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which provides educational opportunities until they are released into the care of U.S. family members or a "sponsor" as they wait for a decision on their status. During this time, the fact sheet explains, they also still have the right to public education.