Immigration and Education: Where is the American Dream?
By: Kasey Limon
The marginalization of immigrants by the U.S. government and policies, combined with the underprivileged situations of immigrant generations post and prior migration, have far-reaching consequences to their socioeconomic success. Support from communities, educators and policymakers is needed to facilitate the upward mobility of immigrant students and families. The fate of the collective social future in the U.S depends on the success of the people, including the 13.7% (and rising) immigrant portion of the population.
Perceptions and policies regarding immigration over the years have altered opportunities that for decades have shaped the concept of "The American Dream". The recent Trump-era anti-immigrant laws and sentiments perpetuated through politics and the media have had a significant impact on the realities facing the success and everyday lives of immigrant families and students across the United States.
According to the Brookings Institute, “In the U.S., having more immigrant peers appears to increase U.S.-born students’ chances of high school completion. Low-skilled immigration, in particular, is strongly associated with more years of schooling and improved academic performance by third-plus generation students. On the other hand, a rise in the number of immigrant students might increase segregation through the flight of third-plus generation students from schools with large shares of immigrant students.”
This statement illuminates views about immigration in education and immigration in general that are negative as well as socially accepted. The anti-immigrant perceptions perpetuated through policy and media, especially over the last 4 years, paint a picture of the impact of immigration on social systems that differs from the truth. It is not the future of immigrants and their families alone that stand to benefit from their integration into American schools and society; the benefits extend to the future of the entire country.
Subsequently, the scope of impact caused by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids and mass detention ripples beyond the lives of undocumented immigrants. Millions of U.S.-born children and their families are affected by these policies, adding to pre-existing socio/economic stressors with the fear of impending separation from family members. The aftermath of Trump’s Zero Tolerance Policy has left behind broken families and communities riddled with fear.
Simultaneously, the inclining trend of ethnic segregation in schools is in part, a consequence of the negative personification of immigrant cultures and another difficulty that first and second-generation students especially, have to face. This trend is chipping away at the acceptability and resources received by a great portion of this diverse nation.
According to the research data published in the PLOS ONE journal,
“For immigrant students, ethnic school segregation means less exposure to the receiving society and fewer opportunities of learning the language.”
One solution for this barrier has been suggested for over 100 years in this country. An article from the Western Connecticut State University puts it simply by stating,
“Cultures and opinionated philosophies come into play when arguing about immigrant children in America’s schools. Even though bilingual education programs have caused great controversy in the United States, immigrant children in America’s schools should be able to maintain their own culture and native language, but should also become fully proficient and literate in the English language in order to achieve success in education.”
There are many ways in which this country can act to establish balance and equality within its social and educational systems. Researchers and educators are beginning to collaborate on these issues. Organizations like United We Dream, Families For Freedom, and My Undocumented Life offer information and support to immigrant families and children. Other organizations and corporations have started offering resources as well. With help from all aspects of society, policy and reality can change. The steps forward in this complicated march, however, are often quite intuitive and simple.