Anxious and Alert: Recognizing Symptoms in Children of Undocumented Parents

At the beginning of 2016, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conducted immigration raids, primarily in Georgia, Texas and North Carolina. According to DHS, they rounded up 121 individuals, mostly Central American women and children who were slated for deportation. Given the epidemic levels of gang violence and human rights abuses these families sought to escape, many argue the deportations are inhumane. The raids and deportations also have instilled fear and anxiety in immigrant communities nationwide and these rippling effects are being observed in schools throughout the country. Considering the sheer size of the population of U.S. children with at least one undocumented parent, and the legitimate fear of being separated from one’s parents, many U.S. students are understandably anxious and on alert, fearful and chronically stressed.

By The Numbers

Regardless of their own immigration status, children who have an undocumented parent often feel fear and stress about immigration. In a recent report, the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) released statistics on the populations of U.S. children with undocumented parents.  This data demonstrates the large number of children impacted by what is as much an education issue as an immigration issue.  

·        The population of U.S. children under age 18 with one undocumented parent represents 30 percent of all children of immigrants and 7 percent of all U.S. children (4.1 million).

·        Compared to all children of immigrants and all U.S. children, both U.S. citizen and non-citizen children with an undocumented parent are more likely to experience poverty, lower levels of preschool enrollment, linguistic isolation, limited English proficiency, and reduced chances of socioeconomic mobility.

The socioeconomic and educational disadvantage experienced by children of undocumented immigrants today will have an impact in these children’s lives for years to come – and on all of us, living and working besides and with them.

While most children with undocumented parents are U.S. citizens (79 percent), an estimated 959,000 (19 percent) are undocumented themselves and 113,000 are legally present including lawful permanent residents (LPRs) and those with temporary visas. In The Atlantic article “How Fears of Deportation Harms Kids’ Education,” Melinda D. Andersen addresses how the fear of deportation (that of their own deportation or that of a parent) causes mental, physical and emotional toils on children. The practical manifestations of such legitimatized fears may be most apparent to educators and administrators in the amount of missed schools days.

But there are other signs as well.

By The Symptoms

Between the morning bell and when the last paper is graded for the day, there is a lot that teachers must manage. What follows is a list of symptoms to be aware of. This list was prepared by María Elisa Cuadra-Fernández, a licensed social worker and Executive Director/CEO of COPAY Inc., a bilingual professional youth prevention and leadership development agency. With her permission, we are publishing an excerpt of her article, “Anxiety and PTSD in Latino Children of Immigrants: The ICE Raid Connection to the Development of These Disorders.” To read the full piece, which we recommend, please click here and share broadly.

The real fear and stress over potential family loss may manifest itself in these symptoms of Anxiety Disorders:

• Constant thoughts and intense fears about the safety of parents and caregivers. 
• Refusing to go to school. 
• Stomach aches and other physical complaints.
• Being overly clingy. 
• Panic or tantrums related to having to separate from parents. 
• Trouble sleeping or nightmares. 
• Fear about a specific thing. 
• Fear that causes significant distress.
• Fear of meeting or having to talk to particular people. 
• Avoidance.
• Having few friends. 
• Worries over things before they actually happen. 
• Constant worries or concerns about family. 
• Repetitive or unwanted thoughts (obsessions) or actions (compulsions). 
• Fears of embarrassment. 
• Low self-esteem or lack of self-confidence.

Latino children, like all children, need the freedom and safety to just be children and grow. The energy the child must invest in managing and coping with their fear and stress is energy that is lost to them relative to their cognitive, emotional, psychological, social and academic development. If you identify a child suffering from these symptoms, we encourage you to seek assistance as appropriate from licensed counselors. 

Additional Resources:

• Welcoming Immigrant Students Into the Classroom (American Immigration Council) - The 1982 Supreme Court decision in Plyler v. Doe determined that all students, regardless of their immigration status, are entitled to access K-12 public education. This article provides a brief list of Do’s and Don’ts for building relationships with immigrant students and families.

• What Undocumented Students Bring to the Classroom (The Atlantic) – This article written by San Francisco Bay Area teacher and writer, Andrew Simmons, demonstrates the benefits of having undocumented students in the classroom and how they have enhanced the learning experiences for all the country's children.

• U.S. Children of Undocumented Immigrants Set Up for Failure by Current Policies (American Immigration Council) – This brief blog post demonstrates the profound impact of current immigration policies on pre-K-12 U.S. students.

We seek to connect teachers and students with the most relevant, fact-based information to teach immigration critically and creatively – at no cost.  If you like our work, please share this email, tell a friend and give them this link http://bit.ly/1KdE5Zz to receive updates and free resources such as lesson plans, books reviews, and community grants. Follow us on twitter @ThnkImmigration #teachimmigration.

A New Resource for Addressing Some Concerns of Immigrant Students

As teachers and school professionals, we know you are a trusted guide for your students, and in particular, some of your more recently immigrated students may share questions and concerns with you that you may feel like you need more information to address. These concerns may require extra support perhaps requiring students to seek mental health counseling and legal assistance.

The U.S. Department of Education recently published a resource guide for educators to support undocumented youth with a focus on secondary student access to higher education. It is estimated that about 65,000 un­doc­u­mented stu­dents gradu­ate high school each year, but only about 54 per­cent of all un­doc­u­mented young people have a high school dip­loma, com­pared to 82 per­cent of those born in the U.S. Included in this guide are: tips for school personnel to welcome immigrant students and their families into the classroom; information on de­ferred ac­tion for child­hood ar­rivals (DACA); (which of­fers some young people a tem­por­ary re­prieve from de­port­a­tion and opens ac­cess to some jobs and schol­ar­ships); successful school models that address specific immigrant student needs; and information on scholarships available for undocumented students.

One thing to remember is that all students, regardless of immigration status, are guaranteed by law a right to a free public education under the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision Plyer v. Doe. The U.S. Department of Education issued a fact sheet for schools on educational services for immigrant students and those recently arrived in the U.S., and together with the Department of Justice, published a joint guidance letter , fact sheet and Questions and Answers reminding school districts of their federal obligation to educate all students residing in their respective district and how to enroll them.  A student’s immigration status isn’t something that teachers can or should inquire about and school staff are prohibited by federal law from taking action that may intimidate or “chill” immigrant students from attending school. 

We will continue to support your work to teach about immigration critically and thoughtfully with all students with our free lesson plans and resources and to support your immigrant students.

Please help us to disseminate this vital information by forwarding this email and tell your colleagues about us.

Additional Resources:

•   Navigating College Applications for Undocumented Students - a brief guide on our blog to assist school professionals in supporting undocumented students when applying to college with links to trusted resources.  

•  Public Education for All? Lessons From Plyer v. Doe – a high school lesson plan where students explore personal beliefs about immigration and education, and then do a close reading of an article about the landmark Plyer v. Doe Supreme Court decision. 

Stay Connected!

The American Immigration Council offers free lesson plans, resources, book/film reviews, and grants to teach immigration. We also welcome teacher and student book reviews and contributions to our blog. Email us at teacher@immcouncil.org and follow us on twitter @ThnkImmigration #teachimmigration.

The Immigration and Nationality Act Is Worth Remembering With Students

President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Immigration Act of 1965 at the foot of the Statue of Liberty on October 3, 1965. Photo Credit: Yoichi Okamoto/LBJ Library

Fifty years ago, Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 which President Lyndon B. Johnson signed on October 3, 1965 at the base of the Statue of Liberty. Though at the time, Johnson stated the act was “not a revolutionary bill,” hindsight has proven otherwise. The 1965 act marked a significant shift in U.S. immigration policy away from selecting immigrants by national origin and has had a lasting impact in shaping America today as a richly diverse nation.

Why is this act important to know about?

Before 1965, immigrants to the U.S. largely came from Northern European countries based on numerical limits first enacted in the 1920s. In fact, just prior to the law’s passage, Ireland, Germany, and the United Kingdom received nearly 70% of the quota visas available to enter the U.S. After the bill passed, the demographics of the U.S. shifted as the U.S. implemented an immigration policy that favored family reunification, skilled immigrants, and the elimination of the race-based quota system. As a result, immigrants from other parts of the world – notably Latin America and Asia – began to come to the U.S.

According to a recent report released by Pew Research, “among immigrants who have arrived since 1965, half (51%) are from Latin America and one-quarter are from Asia.” The report further shows that without the 1965 act, our nation would be incredibly less diverse today. Comparatively, U.S. ethnic and racial composition would be: 75% white, 14% black, 8% Hispanic and less than 1% Asian. We’d also be slightly older without the arrival of so many immigrants.

What prompted such a significant change?

Scholars often cite the social reforms of the civil rights movement as well as World War II and Cold War era national security concerns as reasons that prompted this significant immigration reform. The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) notes that “the Allies in World War II and the West during the Cold War risked losing support from Third World countries whose peoples were excluded by openly racist immigration laws.” More recent scholarship by Thomas Gjelten in his book Nation of Nations: A Great American Immigration Story offers an in-depth account of the congressional process, specifically the emphasis on family reunification, and the act’s unintended consequences.

What does this mean for the future?

Pew Research also projected immigration trends fifty years from now.  By 2065, no racial or ethnic group will constitute a majority of the U.S. population.  We will increasingly become more diverse with a growing multiracial population. Notably, the share of the foreign born Hispanic population is estimated to fall to 31% while the share of Asian immigrants will rise to 38%.

What does this mean for the classroom?

By 2050, one in three children under the age of 18 will be either an immigrant or the child of an immigrant. As the U.S. immigrant student population grows, the need to cultivate positive, diverse classrooms and libraries, ones that are reflective of all students and various immigration experiences is ever more prescient. Important also, will be the need to actively weed out hate from the immigration debate , welcome immigrant students into the classroom, and value how immigrant students strengthen American schools.

Additional Resources

We offer many resources including lesson plans and grants to teach about immigration past and present, but we are especially pleased this week to release a short lesson created by ESL and Human Rights teacher at Newcomers High School, Julie Mann.  “Lessons on Acceptance and Forgiveness: A Tale of Two Americas” focuses on changing negative perceptions of immigrants based on the story of Rais Bhuiyan and the Ted Talk by Anand Giridharadas, “A Tale of Two Americas.” The lesson is appropriate for high school students and adaptable for many reading levels.