The Southern Poverty Law Center is suing a Florida county for turning away hundreds of immigrant children looking for an education.

One of the hundreds of students turned away was 17-year-old Haitian immigrant Nehemy Antoine.

In March 2016, Nehemy and his father, Emile, tried to enroll him into the Golden Gate High School in Collier County, Florida. A school administrator handed them a brochure/leaflet, and that was it.

Because Nehemy and his father did not know English well, they had to get someone to translate the brochure.

The leaflet given recommended trade school, adult education programs and GED services. But Nehemy came to them seeking a traditional high school experience. He had already completed algebra and geometry courses in Haiti.

“My real job is to go to school,” said Nehemy, who is now 19 years old and works late bagging groceries at a local supermarket. “There’s nothing more important.”

According to a BuzzFeed report, the school denied him a traditional education. States are mandated to provide instruction to students regardless of immigration status, but in this case, Nehemy was a citizen and still turned away.

Students can receive an education up to age 21 in most states, according to the Education Commission of the States. But in Florida and other places around the country, there are exceptions to the rule.

Florida, for example, allows a district to decide whether to accommodate these types of students. Some have claimed there are not enough resources to assist with students' language barriers.

An estimated 200 other immigrant children have experienced this in Collier County, according to a lawsuit filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

“We don’t feel like it’s a good thing to be putting 22- and 23-year-olds in the same school as 14-year-olds,” says Roy Terry, the school board chair.

Nehemy's father continued trying to get his son enrolled, but after subsequent attempts, he eventually gave up and put him in an adult program that would provide the proper accommodations.

“This has delayed my life, my career, and my future,” Nehemy said in written testimony last summer. “I just need access to a real school.”

As time passed, Nehemy was the last student attached to the suit. The SPLC estimates the 200 students turned away could be higher. Many of the students were from Haiti or Guatemala, and many fled to Florida within the last five years.

"If there were 200 people on the beach who were afraid to go into the water,” Nehemy said, “I would be afraid to go in, too.”

Although he isn't giving up, the district stands by its decision claiming he was unprepared for ninth grade.

Nehemy Antoine

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