A group of seventh graders from New Jersey got to tour the White House earlier this month, but three of their classmates were denied entry because they didn’t have proper ID.
On November 15, the seventh-grade class from Henry Hudson Regional School in Highlands boarded a bus to Washington, D.C.
Initially, the trip was supposed to include lunch on the White House lawn, but a snowstorm delayed the bus’s arrival, leaving time for just the visit to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
A group of seventh graders from New Jersey got to tour the White House earlier this month, but three of their classmates were denied entry because they didn’t have proper ID. The seventh-grade class from Henry Hudson Regional School in Highlands is seen above
When the students finally did arrive, three of them were stopped as the rest of their classmates passed through a Secret Service checkpoint, according to the New York Post.
It turned out that the students – two foreigners from Sweden and one from Colombia – did not have their passports or other ID that is required of non-U.S. citizens.
‘They are here on visas, but they didn’t bring any of that stuff,’ one parent told the Post.
‘They didn’t have any ID on them.’
The Secret Service requires that all foreign nationals visiting the White House present either a passport, alien registration card, or State Department-issued ID card – regardless of age.
The school’s principal, Lenore Kingsmore (above), stayed outside with the three kids while their classmates toured the White House
Before the group of seventh graders departed, the school administrators apparently did not make sure that the foreign students had the proper IDs on them, parents told the Post.
Karen Horner, a school board member, said that the school’s principal, Lenore Kingsmore, stayed outside with the three kids while their classmates toured the White House.
‘She was very upset,’ Horner said of Kingsmore.
‘She was probably more upset than they were.’
A number of parents were also outraged.
‘What are 12 -and 13-year-olds going to do? It doesn’t make sense,’ a father told the Post.
‘It’s disgusting. You don’t do that to children,’ said another.
The top spokesperson for First Lady Melania Trump told the Post that the Secret Service policy has been in place since previous administrations.
‘The requirement has not changed under our administration,’ Stephanie Grisham, the First Lady’s communications director, said.
The students toured the first floor of the White House, though they did not see the Oval Office. President Donald Trump and his family were not seen either.
The Henry Hudson Regional School District posted a photo of the seventh graders outside the White House.
‘It was an experience to remember!’ the Facebook post read.