Illegal Immigrants and the Educational System Essay

Undocumented students are becoming a growing outrage in the United States. It has been a constant battle amongst the students, the schools, and the Government. According to collegeboard.com, statistics shows that 65,000 undocumented students graduate from U.S. high schools each year (collegeboard.com).After graduating high school they face legal and financial barriers to higher education. This paper will address the importance of this growing outrage and discuss the following that corresponds to it.

If we talk about undocumented immigrants in United States, we usually focus on the benefits and jobs they take from our country, but have we ever stood in their shoes and imagine what life is like for an illegal immigrant? To live as an undocumented immigrant is a bad situation, but I believe to be a child of an undocumented immigrant is even worse, because their choices are limited and they are unaware of their rights to attend colleges. In this research, I will focus on undocumented immigrant students, who are unable to afford for higher education, and the fear of their unknown future which is mainly cause by their undocumented status. The largest invisible group in America, to explore “what are the struggles and unsolved problems of

Plyler v. Doe, 1982 (American Immigration Council, 2012). The Supreme Court issued a ruling, based on the Fourteenth Amendment, that states cannot deny students a free public education because of immigration status. In addition, the court also said that denying children access to public education would be harmful to the children as well as society as a whole and that children should not be held accountable for their parents’ actions.

When one thinks about Hispanics, all too often the image of a field full of migrant workers picking fruit or vegetables in the hot sun comes to mind. This has become the stereotypical picture of a people whose determination and character are as strong or stronger than that of the Polish, Jewish, Greek, or Italian who arrived in the United States in the early 1900's. Then, the center of the new beginning for each immigrant family was an education. An education was the "ladder by which the children of immigrants climbed out of poverty into the mainstream." (Calderon & Slavin, 2001, p. iv) That ideal has not changed, as the Hispanic population has grown in the United States to large numbers very quickly and with little fanfare. Now, the

Americans believe that illegal immigrants are freeloaders they come to the United States to use our Social Services. Let’s define Social Services, “organized welfare efforts carried on under professional auspices by trained personnel (dictionary.com, 2011, para.1).” Examples of Social Services are Housing which is Government subsidized and public housing, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Food Stamps/Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid and Medicare, and Social Security Payments for the elderly, disabled, qualifying children of the deceased, etc. Illegal immigrants do not qualify for these social services, because they do not have a social security number. Illegal immigrants contribute to the economy of

Approximately 200,000 to 225,000 undocumented immigrants enroll in American institutions of higher education and represent 2 percent of all students in college (Suarez-Orozco, Katsiaficas, Birchall, Alcantar, & Hernandez, 2015). Undocumented students have low rates of enrollment to programs of higher education in comparison to documented students. When undocumented students begin college, they go through struggles to adapt and assimilate to college life. As a result of feeling disconnected to the campus they attend, undocumented students may look for different options for support, such as clubs and centers offered for students. In recent years, there have been legal changes set in place to support the success of undocumented students enrolled in higher education, which include in state tuition, financial aid, and scholarship opportunities. These changes have given undocumented students more choices and access to

Illegal immigration at the U.S. - Mexico border is a growing problem, and the death toll is rising as more people are attempting to illegally enter the United States. As a result of an increasing number of people trying to enter into the United States illegally, the border is now being guarded by an increasing number of border patrol officers. The United States implemented different laws and operations to prevent more illegal immigration from Mexico into the United States. The ‘Operation Gatekeeper’ was introduced in 1994, which increased the number of Border Patrol officers. The most recent and controversial law was passed in Arizona, which essentially ‘allows’ officers to use racial profiling to check legal status of anyone in that

For many years, people from all over the world have come to the United States seeking a better life for themselves, their spouse, their children and even their children's children. However, not every immigrant comes into this country legally and many of these illegal immigrants are poor, uneducated and may be carrying contagious diseases. They may arrive here via human trafficking, smuggling or other methods. There is one thing we know for sure that many of them choose to remain silence when they become victims. The three main reasons they become invisible victims are they are not aware they are victimized, they don't know the right way to ask for help and they are afraid to be fired or even deported.

Illegal immigration has caused a lot of controversy within the United States. The media has influenced our society to make us believe that illegal immigrants are horrible people. One thing that I have learned throughout life is, “Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains (Rousseau 4).” This sums up how society dictates our lives and limits us to what the media wants to us to believe. Whether it is legal or illegal, everybody should be treated equally. Illegal immigrants might always end up with the short end of the stick, but they heavily support the US economy. They contribute by paying taxes every year. In addition, they adopt difficult low wage jobs that are not of interest to the average American.

Education is an integral part of society, School helps children learn social norms as well as teach them to be successful adults. The school systems in United States, however are failing their students. In the world as a whole, the United States is quickly falling behind other countries in important math and reading scores. The United States ranked thirtieth in math on a global scale and twentieth in literacy. This is even more true in more urban, lower socio-economic areas in the United States. In West Trenton Central High School was only 83% proficiency in literacy and only 49% of the students were proficient in math. These school have lower test scores and high dropout rates. Many of these students come from minority backgrounds and are often form low income families. There are many issues surrounding these urban schools. There is a severe lack of proper funding in these districts, and much of the money they do receive is sanctioned for non-crucial things. Schools also need a certain level of individualization with their students, and in many urban classes, this simply does not happen. While there are many factors affecting the low performance of urban schools, the lack of proper funding and distribution of funds, the cultural divide between teachers and students in urban districts, along with the lack of individualization in urban classrooms are crucial factors to explain the poor performance in these districts. Through a process of teacher lead budget committees and

America is traditionally a country of immigrants. Very few people today have relatives who were Native Americans, many of them because of religious persecution, and others because of they were just looking to start a new life on the exciting untouched frontier. For instance, in Florida, the first arrivals were European, beginning with the Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon who explored the land in 1513, following French and Spanish settlement during the 16th century. From the past, America was seen as a country of opportunities. People from all over the world have moved here looking for better opportunities. There are a lot of reasons why immigrants should live in this country, but I would like to mention three of them.

Plyler v. Doe was a case in which a Texas statue withheld local and state funding for the education of immigrants who were deemed illegal aliens. In this case, the plaintiffs represented school-aged children of Mexican dissent. These children were just recently admitted to the U.S.A. Since the students were undocumented people the school district asked parents to parents to pay $1,000, which would cover the expenses for the school, and enroll them into school. This case was then brought to the district court which found that the reason for higher admission rates wasn’t because of the increase in immigrants, but the increase of people in the surrounding areas, which were legal residents. Because of this the district court decided that illegal

Illegal immigration was an issue in the past and is a pressing problem in the present. The U.S. Government has been trying to find a resolution to this issue for years. The United States approved the Immigration Reform and Control Act in 1986, which allowed the American Government to punish American companies that consciously employed illegal immigrants (Nadadur 1037-1052). The United States’ Government Immigration Reform and Control Act has been unsuccessful in controlling illegal immigration. It is estimated that illegal immigration into the U.S. has a yearly interval of three hundred fifty thousand people (Rousmaniere 24-25). It is apparent that the 1986 act was not able to keep a handle on illegal immigration. Illegal immigration

The United States is a country affected by illegal immigration. The term illegal aliens or what is most commonly known as illegal immigrants, the word alien is simply a person who comes from a foreign country. A much more accurate expression for these groups of individuals is the term illegal alien. The term illegal alien is a much more precise term because it deals with both undocumented aliens as well as nonimmigrant visa overstayers. Both terms illegal alien as well as illegal immigrant are used to describe individuals who have broken the law of our country to enter and work illegally. The majority of the immigrants who come to this country illegally are in search of the

Allowing for immigrants to be able to obtain a higher education would benefit not only themselves, but the people of America as well. There are many students who wish to obtain a more desirable education, but are not able to succeed because they are not a natural born citizen. When asked “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus responded with the parable of the Good Samaritan, a foreigner who treated a badly beaten man as the foreigner would have wished to be treated (Luke 10:25-37)” (Wellman). Our nation is filled with an extensive amount of immigrants who are devoted to make it in life and without them being able to speak English in this country, they are being blocked from following their dreams. The “American Dream” is the ideal that every U.S citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity