Each day as children in Columbus, New Mexico get ready for school, there is one item some students put in their backpacks that the average student educated in the United States leaves at home: a passport.
Before saying hello to their teachers for the morning, these students greet ICE officers who go through their belongings. At the end of the day, these students meet their parents not at school doors, but at the edge of the US border with Mexico. All of this, for so many families, is in the name of providing the best education for their children.
At Novel Hand, we explore the causes of and solutions to a wide scope of humanitarian issues around the world. As I’ve started writing articles, one thing that has informed my writing is the intersectional nature of these problems and solutions that go with them. Though my main focus is education, many other topics involve educating our youth. This is the case because there are children experiencing hardship in all forms and areas. A question I found myself asking is, “What experiences are immigrant children facing in the education system?” Though this question doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all answer, I chose to focus on some of the experiences of children and their education at the U.S.-Mexico border. Here are a few things I learned.
What is happening?
As one might reasonably imagine, the education of immigrant children is severely lacking. Many students coming into different school systems do so with a great deal of fear, insecurity, and the like. On top of this, more basic needs, like shelter, food, and clothing, are uncertain. Thus, children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border are not in a good position to get the most out of any education system. Coupled with language barriers and other major challenges regarding immigrating to the U.S., this makes maximizing an education a unique challenge.
In the United States, federal law states that all youth residing on U.S. soil receive free and public education, regardless of immigration status. Because families and children migrate to the United States each day, teachers have too many students to teach effectively, making it difficult to find well-qualified educators. Some teachers say that many days feel like the first day of school because of the many hurdles that migrant children, their families, and those working in such school facilities must overcome on a regular basis. Specifically, these challenges include barriers to language that hinders learning, shelter instructors that lack the certifications needed to be fully-fledged teachers, and a curriculum that does not properly engage students dealing with a host of other anxieties and hardships. As a result, absenteeism and low performance are common.
How can we fix it?
When I think of potential solutions to the issues that immigrant children face in the US, my mind jumps to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. In this framework, a person’s higher-level needs, defined as esteem and self-actualization, cannot be met until other, more basic needs like food and shelter are met. Essentially, all of us need a strong foundation before we can build on it.
This is the approach we should use when talking about educating all of our children, especially those immigrating to escape violence, poverty, and other challenges. In some cases, the United States has implemented policies that directly address this issue. For example, in Columbus, New Mexico, children that are U.S. citizens, but have parents who are not able to enter the country, go to school in the U.S. while living in Mexico. Though this presents a very tricky situation for children of immigrants, the policy prevents them from some worries about their parents potentially being arrested or deported. Thus, it has helped to retain the family unit that is missing from many, if not all, current U.S. detention centers.
Additionally, some centers are implementing screening of children for special educational needs. This is to ensure that their educational experience is well-tailored to each child. In such programs and policies as these, immigrants to the United States receive an education that is specialized to them. Further, all involved can capitalize on the benefits of a culturally rich education.
Despite these places where positive changes are occurring, there is more to be done to address the issue of educating all children regardless of where they are from. At the U.S.-Mexico border, for example, we need strict enforcement of federal educational guidelines and benchmarks. Too often, the implementation of these types of measures is lacking. Similar to the ways we can bridge achievement gaps across the United States, we must focus on the many assets immigrant children bring to the table. Next, we should focus our efforts on finding more teachers able to successfully bring these assets out of their students.
Education for immigrant children is a complicated issue no matter where you are. In the United States, where there are many flaws to both immigration and education systems, a plan must be set in place, and quickly, to prevent more children from falling behind.
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