Invariably,
if you have a conversation about executive action on immigration in your
classroom, misconceptions and strong opinions will arise. How can an
educator create a safe space for open, respectful dialogue that engenders
learning rather than relying on he said, she said? What follows are ways
for you and your students to separate reality from fear and myth-making.
If a student brings up one of these points, you can push for a deeper
understanding simply by asking “how do you know?” Often times that
question alone allows the student a chance to reflect on where they heard it,
who said it, and how. Still, you might get an answer like “it’s what my
dad or aunt said.” Again, probe deeper in a non-argumentative tone like
“oh, so do you know where they got that information from?” If the source
is unreliable or biased, you might respond with “That’s interesting. Have
you thought about what that information is based upon?” or “Hmm, does that
sound like fact or opinion to you?" Then, help students get the
right information and encourage further research and discussion. These
often-touted myths and facts are a place to start.
1. MYTH: Executive action
is not within the president’s lawful authority.
Ask students how they
define the role of the president. What can he or she do and what are his
or her limitations? Explain to students that it is a president’s duty to
“take care that the laws be faithfully executed” under Article II, Section 3,
of the Constitution. In this administrative action to grant temporary
immigration relief, President Obama is not enacting law. He is not
changing the rules for granting permanent residency or citizenship; that action
would require a change in law which is something only Congress can do. It is also good to point out that every president since 1956 has used
executive action to grant temporary immigration relief as published in a report by the Immigration Policy Center. Our corresponding lesson plan on this report will
also help students understand the large precedence for executive action on
immigration.
2. MYTH: Executive action
is amnesty.
Ask students to
define the term “amnesty.” Encourage them to look up the word in a
dictionary if they don’t know it. In the Merriam-Webster
dictionary, amnesty is defined as the “act of an authority
(as a government) by which pardon is granted to a large group of
individuals.” Essentially, it means forgiveness for a crime.
Amnesty has traditionally been used to build compromise after a war such as
when President Lincoln granted amnesty to those who fought against the
Union. While undocumented immigrants have entered the US illegally, under
Obama’s
Immigration Accountability Executive Action, these individuals will have
the opportunity to request temporary relief from deportation and work
authorization for three years at a time if they come forward and register,
submit biometric data, pass background checks, pay fees, and show that their
child was born before the date of the announcement.” After
learning the definition of amnesty and reading the above referenced statement
released from the White House, discuss with students whether or not this
executive action pardons undocumented immigrants or if a penalty is being
extracted from them.
3. MYTH: Executive action
is a lasting law that prevents congressional immigration reform.
Ask students what
they think the difference would be between Congress enacting a law and a
president issuing an executive action. Students should be able to
recognize that executive action is temporary, in this case, three years, while
a law is permanent (although it can be overturned by the Supreme Court).
According to the Immigration
Policy Center, “there is no action that the
President can take that will trump the need and opportunity for lasting,
permanent reforms to our broken immigration system.” Executive action
does not prevent congressional immigration reform, because in fact
congressional action is still needed. When Presidents Ronald Reagan and G. W.
Bush implemented executive action for immigration relief protecting the spouses
and children of unauthorized immigrants who qualified for legal status,
beginning in 1986 with The Immigration and Reform Control Act (IRCA) under
Reagan and in 1990 with the Family Fairness Act under Bush, Congress was
spurred to take action and implement their work into lasting reform.
4. MYTH: Executive action
is not needed because people who want to come can wait in line like everyone
else.
Ask students if they
know when their families arrived in the US. Chances are many of your
students’ families arrived before there were immigration requirements.
For about the first 100 years of our nation’s history, there were no rules on
immigration (see our interactive
timeline for reference) and it wasn’t until 1921 that Congress passed “The
Emergency Quota Act” restricting the number of immigrants entering the
US. So the idea that everyone had to wait in line, especially our
ancestors, isn’t exactly true.
Furthermore, ask
students if they are familiar with the rules about immigrating to the country
now. How does someone enter the country legally? Most immigrants
enter the US because a family member or employer sponsors them. There are
four ways to enter the country legally: 1) Family-based 2) Employment-based 3)
Asylum and Refugee Status 4) Diversity Lottery (of which only 50,000 are given
per year). In short, the legal immigration process in the United
States is complicated, lengthy, costly, and not available to most, especially
those who are low-skilled and lack family connections (see this guide
for a quick reference).
5. MYTH: If you came here
illegally, you are probably a criminal or even a terrorist.
Ask students how they
know this is true. Hearsay and anecdotal evidence are usually the
culprits. Numerous studies
that the Immigration Policy Center has curated in its report
show that crime rates in the United States fell as the size
of the immigrant population (including the unauthorized) increased dramatically.
The crime rates didn’t just fall nationally, but also in cities with large
immigrant populations. Furthermore, immigrants are five times less
likely to be in prison than the native-born, and when they are in prison, it is
mostly like for immigration violations. What Obama’s
Immigration Accountability Executive Action will do is
divert resources to border security and deporting immigrants who do not pass a
background check rather than spend time and money in our courts and prisons on
tracking down or keeping illegal immigrants in jails who are neither criminals
nor terrorists.
6. MYTH: Executive action
will encourage more “illegals” to come.
Ask students what
they know about crossing the border. Is it easy or dangerous? Why
would people risk their lives in order to come to the US? According to
U.S. Border Patrol data obtained by the National
Foundation for American Policy, “immigrant deaths at the border rose by 27
percent in 2012.” Additionally, “an immigrant attempting to cross
illegally into the United States today is 8 times more likely to die in the
attempt than about a decade ago.” While Obama’s
Immigration Accountability Executive Action strengthens
border security, it is not likely to stop those who are willing to make a very
dangerous journey in order to escape gangs, organized crime, and
violence. Ask students what would be some ways to curb the amount
of immigrants approaching our border. How would working with our
countries help in this process?
7. MYTH: While I feel
badly, there’s not enough room for everyone to come.
Ask
students where these illegal immigrants are coming from and how long ago did
they arrive. “Under the new
policies announced, the Obama Administration will build on the successful
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program by providing temporary
relief for the parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. The new
program, to be called Deferred Action for Parents Accountability (DAPA), will
ensure that millions of U.S. citizen and lawful permanent resident children
will remain unified with their parent.” DACA eligibility will be expanded to cover all undocumented immigrants who
entered the U.S. before the age of 16, and not just those born after June 15,
1981. Under DAPA, individuals need to have been in this country for five years among other
requirements. In either program, explain to students that these
immigrants are already here and have been here for some time.
8. MYTH: Executive action
will allow immigrants to take jobs away from Americans.
Ask students what
kinds of jobs they think immigrants are competing for with native-born
workers. Immigrants and native-born workers often fill in for different
types of jobs that require a different set of skills, with typically
higher-skilled English-speaking jobs going to native born workers.
According to the Immigration
Policy Center, the idea that one job can be swapped for another simply is
not true as no correlation has been found between immigration and
unemployment. Authorizing legal working permits for currently
undocumented immigrants will have no effect on the employment of native born
workers.
Secondarily, ask
students what they think will happen when undocumented immigrants are able to
work for higher, legal wages. In a report
produced by Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors, “the additional demand
associated with the expanded economy would offset the additional supply of
workers”; this is true even if these workers are highly skilled. So in
another words, more people working at higher, legal wages will increase the
demand for all goods and services, thereby creating more jobs to produce these
additional goods and services. It is estimated in the same report
that wages would increase by 0.3%.
9. MYTH: Undocumented
immigrants have never paid taxes, but they get benefits.
Ask students to
explain how they pay taxes through sales tax. Undocumented immigrants
also pay sales tax every time they buy clothing, an appliance, gas, or food at
a restaurant. They also pay property tax, a main source of public school
funding – even if they are renting, and in a report on US
Immigration Myths and Facts, the US Chamber of Commerce states, “more than
half of undocumented immigrants have federal and state income, Social Security,
and Medicare taxes automatically deducted from their paychecks.” While undocumented workers already contribute
$15 billion per year to Social Security,
providing a way for immigrants to have legal working permits would help bolster
Social Security because more legal workers would mean more people would be
contributing payroll taxes to its trust fund, according to an
analysis from the Social Security administration. All in all, according to the US Chamber, “undocumented
immigrants pay billions of dollars each year in taxes.” Also key to point
out to students is that while undocumented immigrants can receive schooling and
emergency medical care, they are not eligible for food stamps, welfare, or
health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
10. MYTH: Executive action will not affect me
because I don’t know any immigrants in my community.*
Ask students to think
about why an undocumented immigrant would not tell you of his or her
immigration status. It is estimated that there are 11.4 million
undocumented immigrants living in the US. Of that number the Migration
Policy Institute estimates that 3.7 million will be eligible for DAPA, the
parents of children who are citizens or legal permanent residents and have been
here for at least five years, and another 1.5 million will be eligible for the
expanded DACA, which allows young illegal immigrants who came to the United
States as children to stay if they meet certain guidelines. The other 6.2
million are not covered in this plan. Chances are your students know both
legal and illegal immigrants, but there are good reasons why both groups may
remain silent. Illegal immigrants do not want to risk deportation and
some legal immigrants may fear not fitting into a mainstream idea of American
culture. Discuss with students ways you can welcome immigrants in your
school and in your community. You may even want to engage students in an
immigrant interview project or a school-wide celebration of immigrant contributions
to the US. Please see our website
at the American Immigration Council Community Education for ideas and lesson
plans.
Lastly, our latest lesson
plan "Just What Is
Executive Action? A Lesson From the Principal's Desk" encourages students to collaboratively define
executive action through inductive reasoning with a direct application to
school. Designed to be relevant and rigorous, these lessons will produce
lively, well-informed classroom discussions that lead to fuller understanding.
Thank you for the hard work you do daily with students! We welcome your feedback on how you use
our lessons and materials as well as any concerns or questions you have.
Please add a comment or send an email to teacher@immcouncil.org
The American Immigration Council’s Education Department is proud to announce
the winners of the 2014-2015 Teacher Grant Program. The grant program is an Education Department initiative to provide educators with the resources
they need to implement a successful immigration curriculum or community-based
project. 
