By RON JACKSON, The Oklahoman

OKLAHOMA CITY - The 2007 passage of a state House bill was meant to send Oklahoma's illegal immigrants packing, but court appeals and the inability to enforce the law have left it in limbo.

Meanwhile, more Hispanic students than ever are enrolled in Oklahoma schools.

WATONGA, Okla. - Eugene Blackbear, leaning on a wooden walking cane, takes a seat not far from the family's sacred sweat lodge on a small acreage south of here. His son-in-law, Malcolm Whitebird, stokes the flames of a bonfire built around a pyramid of stones.