Children whose parents are undocumented have a higher risk of
doing poorly in school and face economic challenges later in life, according to
a study published in the Harvard Educational Review.
The study claims that there are approximately 5.5 million
children in the United States who because of their families’ immigration status
are “at risk of lower educational performance, economic stagnation, blocked
mobility and ambiguous belonging.” Out of the 5.5 million children, an
estimated 4.5 million are U. S citizens.
The study is the first to track the effects of a family’s
immigration status on children from birth until they begin to navigate the job
market. (The New York Times, Sept.20)
The study attributes marginalization and lower performance of
immigrant youths to a number of factors. Researchers found that beginning with
childhood, undocumented parents tended to work longer hours, which contributed “substantially
to the lower cognitive skills of children in their families. “ Though not
mentioned in the study, the fact that many school systems fail to properly
accommodate English-language learners also contributes to the steeper learning
curve of immigrant children. (RethinkingSchools.org)
What was most revealing about the study was the effect of the
ever-present shadow of imprisonment and deportation that loomed over both the
undocumented parent and the family as a whole.
Under the current administration, the risk of deportation is
much higher, with President Obama now on track to deport more immigrant workers
in one term than George W. Bush did in two. The fear of deportation and of the
government in general has kept parents from signing their kids up for a variety
of social programs to which they were entitled, in particular food stamps and
subsidized child care.
As adolescents, undocumented youth are forced to explain to
their peers why they cannot get a real summer job, a driver’s license or apply
for financial aid like their peers. Those who are able to afford higher
education see little reward in paying for an education they may not be able to
use.
The study found that “out of 150 immigrants … studied in
depth, 31 had completed college or advanced degrees, but none was in a career
that matched his or her educational training. Many were working low-wage jobs
like their parents. “ (The New York Times, Sept.20)
In conclusion the researchers argued that immigrant families were
being pushed deeper and deeper into an “underground workforce” and “perpetual
outsider-hood,” which resulted in “uniformly negative” effects on their social
development from early childhood until they became adults.
Correctly seeing no other option but to struggle, a growing
number of militant immigrant youth have been taking to the streets in protests,
chanting “Undocumented and Unafraid!” in an attempt to embolden the immigrant
rights movement and throw off the chains of fear that have paralyzed some workers
since the massive protests of 2006.
Recently, these students have heroically risked deportation to
countries they do not know in order to secure legal status and financial aid to
college students through the DREAM Act and curb the number of deportations by
eliminating the terroristic federal “Secure Communities” program.
The ruling class goes out of its way to find pretexts for racist
immigration policies whose real aim is to drive a wedge between U.S.-born and
immigrant workers. Whenever a sector of the working class is stripped of rights
and singled out for super-exploitation, all workers suffer. If the bosses can
hire a pair of hands for $4.50 an hour, workers’ demands for decent wages will fall
on deaf ears.
Only by fighting for full equality among all workers can we push
back the bosses’ assault on our living standards. Full rights for all
immigrants!
