Massachusetts migrant advocates are requesting Attorney General Andrea Campbell to investigate Saugus’ student admissions policy which they argue is exclusionary and unconstitutional.

Earlier this month, Lawyers for Civil Rights and Massachusetts Advocates for Children demanded the Saugus School Committee to revise the policy that requires students to be “legal residents whose actual residence is in Saugus,” a request that has since been shut down.

The groups sent a letter to Campbell on Wednesday, a day after the new year started in the North Shore district, to “formally open an investigation into the exclusionary student enrollment practices of the Saugus Public Schools.”

“Opening an investigation will not only protect the rights of schoolchildren in Saugus,” the letter states, “but it will also send a much-needed message to all school districts throughout the Commonwealth: that exclusionary enrollment policies are illegal and will not be permitted to stand.”

“As you are aware,” it continues, “there is growing public awareness of such discriminatory, anti-immigrant practices, especially with the recent media coverage of Saugus’ enrollment policy.”

Specifically, the groups are taking exception to how they believe the School Committee has exceeded “statutory authority by impermissibly denying enrollment to children whose families do not complete the Town of Saugus Census.”

Under the policy, written two days after Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency over the migrant influx last August, families must produce proof of residency, occupancy and identity with acceptable documents such as a Massachusetts driver’s license or photo ID card, a U.S. passport or another government-issued photo ID.

The superintendent could require more documentation and investigate if questions arise

“In addition, the Policy’s overly-stringent residency and proof-of-identity requirements place an undue burden on immigrant and mixed-status families, violating rights guaranteed under both the U.S. and Massachusetts Constitutions,” Lawyers for Civil Rights and Massachusetts Advocates for Children wrote in an Aug. 15 letter to the School Committee.

Saugus enrolled 23 students living in the state’s emergency shelter system last school year, figures from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education show. Some 72 families resided in the system — shelters, hotels and motels — in June.

“No child who actually resides in Saugus will be denied access to school because of his or her immigration status or the immigration status of his or her parent(s)/guardian(s),” the policy further reads.

School Committee Chairman Vincent Serino has said the policy will be kept written as is despite the call for a revision.

“As far as our (admissions) policy, we will continue as always,” Serino said at last week’s committee meeting. “As some of you might’ve seen in the news about Saugus and the stories about migrants, frankly they are just not true.”

“Our policies ensure our students are residents of Saugus and not surrounding communities,” he added. “We owe that to our students, teachers, support staff and taxpayers. As with all of our policies, these are vetted before we go to vote on them, and our policies align with a bunch of other Massachusetts communities. It’s not different.”

Lawyers for Civil Rights and Massachusetts Advocates for Children said they’re “aware of at least two cases, both involving immigrant families, where SPS’s illegal requirement impeded children’s enrollment and resulted in substantial time out of school.”

“With school starting in Saugus this week and the School Committee digging in its heels, it is imperative that the Attorney General intervene,” said Erika Richmond Walton, an attorney with Lawyers for Civil Rights. “No child in Massachusetts should be denied the right to an education based on exclusionary policies.”

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