El Paso ISD releases student data to state comptroller, prompting concerns over undocumented students

The El Paso Independent School District has provided the Texas Comptroller’s Office with records breaking down the number of students enrolled using a Social Security number and those who use a state-approved alternative identification number, raising concerns that the data may be used to target undocumented students.

EPISD board President Leah Hanany confirmed to El Paso Matters that the district provided the records requested by the comptroller, but noted that they alone cannot be used to determine citizenship status. Districts assign students an alternative number when a family does not provide a Social Security number.

“I think they’re trying to ascertain which children have Social Security numbers and which don’t. But it’s impossible to ascertain that. Anybody can register their child using an alternate number,” Hanany told El Paso Matters.

Comptroller Don Huffines’ office requested the data but told the district not to provide identifying student information, according to a Thursday news release from El Paso state Rep. Vince Perez. 

EPISD is one of four districts being reviewed by the Comptroller’s Office after Gov. Greg Abbott requested a state financial investigation to ensure that districts are spending more state funds in the classroom and not on administration.

Huffines did not respond to El Paso Matters’ request for comment. 

Perez said the Comptroller’s Office used a financial assessment of EPISD to collect documents unrelated to the district’s finances and operations.

“A Social Security number isn’t required to go to school in Texas, and an alternative ID number tells you nothing about a child’s immigration status,” Perez said in the news release. “So what does a review of central office spending have to do with a count of El Paso children who enrolled without using one?”

Huffines also asked for budgets, payroll documents, contracts, an electronic copy of the district’s school library catalog and board policies on parents’ complaints about human sexuality curriculum.

El Paso ISD officials did not immediately respond to El Paso Matters’ request for comment or answer questions about the records provided to the comptroller, but said they’ll have more details during a Friday morning news conference. Hanany did not comment further.

During a Thursday morning news conference, Perez said he had submitted a legislative records request for information on the scope of the comptroller’s review and the records that were provided to Huffines. He was joined by the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Save Our School Coalition, a grassroots organization that in 2025 protested against the closure of several EPISD schools.

When asked why he thinks the comptroller would target undocumented students, Perez cited a 2025 CBS interview where Huffines said those students should “go home.”

“When you look at many of the comments that Comptroller Huffines has made before, I think clearly there’s an intent and a motivation that exists within his office,” Perez said.

Perez also pointed to what he called Huffines’ history of targeting non-citizens who attend Texas schools. This included filing a failed bill that would have required the state to certify the cost of “providing educational services to persons who are not lawfully present in the U.S.” when he was a state senator in 2017. Huffines also led a foundation that in 2023 recommended the state “require proof of citizenship status for students and parents of students” and to “count and report all noncitizen students and all children of noncitizens,” Perez said.

Under the 1983 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plyler v. Doe, states cannot deny children access to public education based on immigration status.

Huffines, in a news release related to the investigations, said they are meant “to determine whether district spending complies with state law and reaches students, classrooms, and teachers — rather than contributing to administrative growth or non-instructional bureaucracy.

The Comptroller’s Office visited EPISD this week without notifying lawmakers of their plan. They arrived Monday and left by noon Thursday.

Desiree Serna of Texas LULAC noted that neither Perez nor the organizations want to “obstruct legitimate financial oversight.”

“We are here to demand that it be conducted lawfully, transparently, and without compromising the rights of children and families,” Serna said.

Perez’s request comes after he sent a letter to Huffines on Oct. 12, with a 14-day deadline, rebutting claims of financial mismanagement at EPISD and asking questions about why the district was selected for the review over those with higher administrative spending. Perez said he has not received a response from Huffines.

Perez is on the House Committee on Ways and Means, which is in charge of oversight of the Comptroller of Public Accounts. He is also seeking reelection to Texas House District 77 in the Nov. 3 general election.

This article first appeared on El Paso Matters and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.