Who+Can+Stay+Here?

Rethinkins Schools Article Review: October 8, 2010

Stephanie- Who Can Stay Here? is an article written about the issues of illegal immigration and documentation. The author of the article is a first grade teacher who deals first hand with the immigration issue and recalls specifically one instance when the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officers sat outside of her school as a scare tactic for the undocumented students and parents that come and go from their building. She recalls her first grade students running screaming and crying into the building from the playground because of the helicopters that were hovering overhead because they thought they were going to be "taken away." In the article she talked about how she tries to deal with the issues surrounding their "situation" by using picture books. In compiling her collection of books she discovered that one of the areas that has not been covered nearly enough is immigrants being able to obtain proper documentation and equal access to citizenship. She has critiqued many stories and reminds us that when adding books like these to our classroom libraries we must be sensitive, read the books to the class, discuss, and make sure each issue is treated carefully because there may be many students living and dealing with these problems on a daily basis.

Questions that I had as I was reading were: 1. How are undocumented children able to attend schools in the United States?

2. Who is paying for these children to attend school?

3. Should obtaining legal citizenship be made easier for immigrants?

4. Are the scare tactics being used by the ICE legal? Should they be allowed to continue?

5. Should the authors of the books that have been critiqued in the article always have a "happy ending" since the kids reading the books know different?

6. The children know that their parents, families, and friends may not be legal citizens and may be working and living in the states illegally, what should they do about it? Should they live in fear each day of being deported?

Amy: The fear that these children must be living with is overwhelming. I am sure that they are instructed not to talk about it, so reading children's literature about illegal immigration and letting them talk about it as "someone else's story" could be very helpful to them. A lot of times these children are able to attend schols becasue they are citizens since they are born in the U.S. although their parents might not be legal. Stephanie- One of the other things that the article said was that as the teachers noticed that the ICE was sitting outside they called the families to make sure only documented family members or friends come to pick up the kids so that the children do not see parents taken away:(

﻿Carrie-This is sad that innocent kids would be scared screaming and running. I understand that getting citizenship should be a priority but to make the children, scared when they should be focused on their learning is really disappointing. In our school, we have a lot of migrant workers who cannot afford to pay for lunches or field trips so our PTO which thankfully has the funds, pick up the tab for them. Our school is also fortunate enough to have a great resource in our ELL (English Language Learner) teacher. She will translate letters from English to Spanish for those parents who are limited in their English. Cheri-Scaring young nchildren is not the way to solve the immigration problem. Having these children attend school will provide them with an educational level probably higher than their parents and make them future productive members of our society.  Mark- This is a topic that easily gets me fired up, and I am always to talk about it in Social Studies classes at the High School. It always seems silly to me for people to try and prevent children from getting an education. Trying to intimidate them at the schools seems just as ridiculous as it is hurting their education and other students around them. For starters I ask my students "why do illegal immigrants come to the United States?" We all agree it is because they are looking for a better life. Maybe to escape a corrupt government, maybe to escape poverty or other related issues. No matter what the reason education always seems to be a doorway to try and solve the larger problem pushing them out of their home countries. If they get an education they can escape the larger issue that chased them out. Then there is the possibility that illegal immigration can slow down as these new educated students can return and help friends, families, communities etc. that are threatened in their home country. All of the students I have talked with coming from immigrant families talk about wanting to return to their home country. If we equip them with the skills that can improve themselves and whatever community they end up in this could help those in their lives and possibly stifle the immigration issue that seems to get liberals and conservatives upset. Then there will be a lot less reason for ICE to be sitting outside and intimidating families and students. ﻿ In response to question number 3; I do believe that we should make it easier for illegal immigrants to gain citizenship once they have made it here. low cost citizenship programs that would include English lessons would actually pay for themselves when you think about the cost of illegal immigrants not paying taxes, deportation costs, welfare costs and the greatest cost; the childrens cycle of poverty, drugs and crime when the breadwinner of the family is deported. I personally believe that helping educate Mexican children in Mexico serves a dual purpose. Less families would leave Mexico if they were provided a quality education and once educated they would be able to make positive changes in the country resulting in less illegal immigration to the U.S. Jen Stephanie- I agree completely...why can we see this as a possible solution or at least a good start when the politicians, other government officials, and those who could make the necessary changes are blind to it?!