Kent, Wash., school district cancels international trips

KENT, Wash. (AP) – A school district in Washington state has halted all international field trips over concerns students in the country illegally wouldn’t be able to get back in.

The Seattle Times reports (http://bit.ly/2p7zusN) that the Kent School District’s Board of Directors announced the decision Wednesday.

The decision immediately canceled an education exchange to Osaka, Japan, and a band trip to Victoria, British Columbia, in Canada.

District spokesman Chris Loftis says confusing messages from President Donald Trump’s administration caused uncertainty about whether students would be allowed back into the U.S.

Loftis says the district doesn’t track students’ immigration status because of a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision that says it’s unconstitutional to deny children in the country illegally a free and public education.

The school district says it has students from 100 countries.