The Trump administration excludes undocumented children from Head Start

This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here. Welcome to The Logoff: The Trump administration is reversing decades of federal policy to exclude undocumented children from the federal preschool program Head Start, in its latest attack on immigrants in the US. Who will be affected? Children without legal immigration status will be directly excluded from the program under Thursday’s announcement, but the impact will be broader. As the National Head Start Association wrote in response to the news, “Attempts to impose such a requirement threaten to create fear and confusion among all families who are focused on raising healthy children, ready to succeed in school and life.” What does Head Start do? Head Start is an early childhood education program for low-income and homeless children between the ages of three and five, run at the national level by the Department of Health and Human Services but largely administered at the local level. Among other benefits, it also provides nutrition assistance for enrolled children and, crucially, reliable child care for their parents. Why is the policy changing? As the education publication Chalkbeat pointed out, this change fits with a deliberate strategy by the Trump administration to make life harder for undocumented immigrants and force them to self-deport. In February, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the government to exclude undocumented immigrants from more programs. What else did HHS change? Thursday’s announcement doesn’t just impact Head Start, but at least 12 other programs, including mental health and substance abuse assistance, that the administration is now reclassifying as “federal public benefits” in order to exclude undocumented immigrants. What’s the big picture? Data on the benefits of early childhood education is complicated, as my colleague Kelsey Piper has reported — but research suggests that it can have a positive lifelong impact on outcomes for children. The Trump administration’s decision excludes a group of children young enough that they may know no other home than the United States from those benefits. And with that, it’s time to log off… The pygmy hippo Moo Deng, who became a global sensation last year for her puckish antics, turned 1 on Thursday and celebrated with a “cake” made of fruits and vegetables. Last year, my colleague Li Zhou examined what makes Moo Deng and her peers in the world of viral baby animals so popular — it’s a great piece that also features a very fluffy penguin chick and a baby beaver. I hope you give it a read, and if there are any other baby animals who have stolen your heart recently, I’d love to see photos. Have a great weekend!