Some of our country’s most marginalized students are once again dealing with trauma that significantly interferes with their learning. As federal agents ramp up raids on immigrants, tensions have heighted in minority communities, schools, churches, hospitals, and many places of business.
News media is already sharing stories of citizens caught up in these raids due to their appearance or last names. Native Americans, Puerto Ricans, other U.S. citizens who happen to have Hispanic sounding names or have brown skin have been swept up in these raids and endured humiliating treatment before finally being able to confirm their U.S. citizenship or their legal status in the country.
However, even greater harm is being done to the innocent children also being caught up in these raids. Usually not physically caught up but psychologically caught up in the raids. They are most often children with U.S. citizenship (83% of students in immigrant households were born in the U.S.; Camarota, Griffith & Ziegler, 2023). However, a parent or other loved ones in their family May be at risk for being arrested and deported as the result of a raid despite not being wanted as a criminal. These children are living with fear and worry while trying to go to school and learn.
These children represent our future. The day is quickly approaching when they will be the voting citizens of our country. They will be the workers that keep our economy one of the best in the world as they innovate, collaborate, and find solutions to our the world’s problems. They will be our taxpayers in only a few years. They will be paying taxes we desperately need to keep Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, emergency workers, highway and bridge repairs, clean drinking water, and so much more funded and serving the people of our country.
Once again, we are marginalizing a massive number of our students as the trauma they are experiencing in these uncertain times prevents them from maximizing their learning. (Nearly 1 in every 4 students in public schools lives in an immigrant headed household. Camarota, Griffith & Ziegler, 2023) Trauma is a huge impairment to the ability to learn. Just as COVID put so many students behind in learning so that even greater numbers of students failed to meet state benchmarks in literacy and mathematics, this current trauma is deeply impacting the learning of over 11 million students estimated (Camarota, Griffith & Ziegler, 2023) to be caught in this chaos, worry, and fear. How much learning will be lost for these students because of what their own country is doing?
Superintendents, principals and teachers across the country have been planning for how they will help students whose families get caught in this web. They are sharing their knowledge and experiences on how to deal with such trauma. They work hard each day to make their schools safe and loving places. They are committed to the 14th Amendment provisions as defined by the US Supreme Court Case Plyer vs. Doe. They carefully limit and guard students’ data as required by federal law Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
However, that does not stop the fear these students endure. Fear that because of his skin color their older brother might be caught up in a raid, or that a parent’s legal status is not sufficient to escape a raid, or that the contribution their family makes every day by working long hours and paying taxes counts for nothing.
Educators understand the precious future they nurture every day in classrooms across this country. However, as Jamie Volmer says, “They cannot do it alone.” When will we, the citizens of the United States, realize that that these children are our future. They are smart, creative, collaborative, kind, hardworking and yearning for their opportunity to contribute to our county and our world. We must recognize their value and do all we can to protect and nurture them. Our future depends on it!
*For tips on how schools can help students enduring the trauma and fear that these raids are causing see the IDRA January 2025 Newsletter
This blog is written by Dr. GwenCarol Holmes, a long-time educator and passionate advocate for all students mastering rigorous standards.
References:
Camarota, S. A., Griffith, B., and Zeigler, K. (2023). Mapping the Impact of Immigration on Public Schools. Retrieved January 30. 2025 at https://cis.org/Report/Mapping-Impact-Immigration-Public-Schools.
Volmer, J. (2010). Schools Cannot Do It Alone. Enlightenment Press.