Education and Immigration Reform: Status and Prospects

Professor Victoria-María MacDonald Dept. of Teaching, Learning, Policy & Leadership

University of Maryland

Immigration Town Hall - Johns Hopkins University League of United Latin American Citizens

April 29, 2013

If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and what never will be…

Educate and inform the whole mass of people… they are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty. - Thomas Jefferson

PLYLER V. DOE – UNAUTHORIZED CHILDREN PERMITTED IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

The U.S. Supreme Court currently protects the constitutional right of undocumented children to attend K-12 Public Schools.

“By denying these children a basic education, we deny them the ability to live within the structure of our civic institutions, and foreclose any realistic possibility that they will contribution in even the smallest way to the progress of our Nation” Final ruling, Plyler v. Doe 457 U.S. 202 (1982)

Latino/a Educational Status and the Achievement Gap

H.S. Dropout Rates by Ethnic-Racial groups, 2010

02468

10121416 H.S. Dropout % 2010

H.S. Dropout % 2010

. Percentage of 16- to 24- year-olds who were high school status dropouts, by nativity and

race/ethnicity with Hispanic subgroups: 2005

Race/ethnicity and subgroup

Number Total Native Foreign-born

Total1 34,602,000 10.5 8.6 25.2White 21,163,000 7.2 7.2 6.3Black 4,786,000 11.6 11.8 8.5HISPANIC 6,190,000 22.8 13.2 38.1 Mexican 4,150,000 25.5 13.8 41.9 Puerto Rican 502,000 16.9 16.9 ‡ Dominican 172,000 14.2 10.6! 17.7 Central American

469,000 32.6 9.9! 43.7

South American

267,000 9.1 4.8! 11.8

Other Hispanic or Latino

629,000 10.9 9.7 17.8

Educational Attainment LevelsBy ETHNIC-RACIAL GROUPS, 2011

WHITE BLACK HISPANIC ASIAN 0

102030405060708090

100

H.S.BACHELORSMASTERS

SOURCE: NCES.ED.GOV/FASTFACTS/DISPLAYSP?ID=27

The Impact of UNDOCUMENTED STATUS OF PARENTS on Educational Success

4.5 to 5 Million Children Under 18 have unauthorized Parents

Source: Pew Research Center (2013)

• Low enrollment in pre-K program, such as Head Start.

• Parent deportation (and fear over deportation) affects student learning and emotion

• Confines parents to low-income employment; poverty has negative impact on educational attainment.

Source: Unauthorized Immigrant Parents and Their Children’s Development: A Summary of Evidence, 2013.

Positive Impact of Immigration Reform on educational attainment

Immigration Reform will:• Increase parental involvement• Increase educational advocacy of parents• Decrease detention and suspension of

students• Increase acculturation of parent (e.g. English

language training)

DEFERRED ACTION FOR CHILDHOOD ARRIVALS (DACA) AUG. 15, 2012-MARCH 14, 2013

DACA Rates

Eligible - 1.4 MillionApps Rec'd - 470K

Source: www.immigrationimpact.com/2013/04/12/why-are-some-still-undacamented/

Four Obstacles toDACA applications

• Cumbersome paperwork, especially documentation of past residency.

• Lack of support for rural population, especially migrant farm workers.

• DACA filing fee ($465)• Distrust

POSITIVE EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF IMMIGRATION REFORM

1. Democratic Citizenship 2. Social Stability, Social Mobility, Economic Productivity

and Economic Competition with Other Countries. 3. Acculturation and Integration of Immigrants into U.S.

Society

HUMAN CAPITAL + EDUCATION = ECONOMIC HEALTH

UNTAPPED HUMAN CAPITAL AS A RESULT OF UNAUTHORIZATION WEAKENS ECONOMY AND

SOCIETY

For Questions and Comments

Victoria-Maria MacDonald, Department Teaching, Learning, Policy, and Leadership, University of Marylandvmacdona@umd.edu