Schools get federal funds to shield immigrant students from enforcement trauma
H.R. 9853 — Right to Learn Act of 2026 · Filed by Chuy García (D-IL) · 14 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 22, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill creates a $250 million federal grant program (2027–2031) for schools, nonprofits, and legal aid organizations to support students and staff traumatized by immigration enforcement actions. Eligible recipients can use funds to hire counselors, provide emergency aid (food, shelter, legal referrals), offer mental health services, train staff on trauma-informed practices, and partner with legal service providers—all while explicitly prohibiting schools from collecting or disclosing students' immigration status and barring discrimination based on immigration status.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a competitive grant program funding trauma-informed services and legal support for students and staff affected by immigration enforcement. It is fundamentally a public health and educational equity measure, not a regulatory or market-facing instrument.
What the text implies
- The bill's explicit prohibition on collecting or disclosing immigration status data (Section 5.1) creates a firewall between schools and federal immigration enforcement, potentially limiting ICE's ability to use school records or presence to identify targets—a significant structural protection not apparent from the title.
- By funding 'Know Your Rights' services and legal aid navigation, the bill indirectly subsidizes legal defense against deportation, which may reduce the effectiveness of immigration enforcement actions in affected communities.
The full analysis lists 3 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
community-based nonprofit organizations (trauma-informed care, immigrant family services); legal aid organizations and law school legal clinics; local educational agencies and public schools