Immigration and the Social Studies Classroom
Dr. Heather Vrana, Associate Professor of History at the University of Florida
Explore Part 6 of our series, “Voices in Social Studies” where educators and thought leaders share the latest in social studies teaching and learning. Read part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 and part 5.
In early June 2021, Vice President Kamala Harris held a joint news conference in Guatemala City. Appearing alongside Guatemalan president Alejandro Giammattei, she turned to the camera, as if to address potential migrants directly: “Do not come. Do not come.” She urged Guatemalans to discourage their friends, neighbors, and family members from embarking on “an extremely dangerous journey.”
This is a far cry from words of Emma Lazarus, forged into the pedestal of the State of Liberty:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
A long-standing American myth celebrates the U.S. as a “melting pot” where cultures and communities mix harmoniously. As early as 1782, this view was voiced by Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur in “Letters from An American Farmer.” Crèvecoeur celebrated, “here [in America] individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men.” However, this powerful myth erases how unwelcoming the U.S. has been toward immigrants. (It also erases the histories of indigenous and African Americans.) In fact, national quotas and labor restrictions have been part of U.S. immigration policy since the Nationality Act of 1790, passed just a handful of years after Crèvecœur celebrated America’s “new race.”
Explore the new 6–12 U.S. and World History programs:
🌏 Inspire students to experience history through multiple lenses and inquiry as they learn to practice civil discourse on their way to becoming future-ready citizens.
Why is significant immigration happening?
Importantly, are we actually experiencing an increase in immigration? If this is happening, then why?
First, in a sense, immigration is not increasing. The number of people living in the U.S. who were born abroad reached a record high of more than 44.9 million in 2019. However, the total percent of the U.S. population born abroad was actually higher in 1890 (14.8 percent compared to 13.7 percent in 2019). The record low of U.S. population born abroad was 4.7 percent in 1970. Although this data can be hard to collect, migration seems to have slowed since 2019.
As for why people are making the difficult and dangerous choice to uproot their lives, there are nearly as many answers as there are immigrants. But a few common reasons emerge. Social scientists often group them into so-called “push and pull” factors. Some common pull factors that draw immigrants to the U.S. are family ties, economic opportunity, freedom of expression, and freedom of religion. Push factors that force immigrants to leave their homelands include ethnic discrimination, anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, environmental or ecological change, weather disasters, anti-woman and anti-LGBTQ violence, gang- and drug-related threats, corruption, and persistent poverty and inequality. Many of these reasons for migrating have been remarkably consistent over centuries. Others are more recent, like environmental change, corruption, and gang- and drug-related threats.
As you would expect, countries of origin have changed in response to political, social, cultural, and economic transformations over the last century, too. In 1900, the top sending countries to the U.S. were Germany, Ireland, Canada, and England. In 2018, the top sending countries were Mexico, China, India, Philippines, and El Salvador (in terms of countries of birth of immigrants, not percentage of immigrant population). Migrants’ most common destinations within the US have remained fairly consistent: New York, California, and Texas, and Florida since the mid-20th century.
Why is immigration such a prominent topic right now?
The percentage of the U.S. population born abroad has fluctuated a lot since the first year that such records were kept (1850), so why is this such an important topic right now?
One part of detangling immigration in the social studies classroom is understanding why immigration is such a prominent topic. On the one hand, this is part of a pattern: periods of political polarization and economic uncertainty in U.S. history have spurred backlash against immigrants. On the other hand, immigration touches on several sensitive questions that get at the heart of debates over the relationship between private individuals and the state. Is the U.S. responsible for only its citizens and the territories within its borders? Should national budgets be used for social programs? Should social programs benefit citizens or all workers who contribute to the national economy? What makes a nation — shared language, culture, customs, origins, geopolitical boundaries, or something else? Is breaking the law ever justified?
How is immigration affecting students?
Unsurprisingly, given the power of these questions and the attention paid to immigration by media and politicians, all students are affected by immigration.
Students explicitly and implicitly excluded in school communities
- In a very explicit way, anti-Latinx racism means that students may be afraid to speak Spanish or may be subject to name-calling, vandalism, racial slurs, and stereotyping. They may experience social exclusion due to insensitive curriculum or having their celebrations unacknowledged or even ridiculed.
- When students’ first languages, including languages like Mixtec, Nahuatl, Mam, K’iche’, Q’anjob’al, and Quechua, are not used, then they are further excluded. It is important to note that all of these indigenous languages are fast-growing in the U.S. and yet much EL education for Hispanic students is conducted in Spanish. Of course, language diversity has long been part of the U.S.’s history. New EL research is focusing on how to include indigenous Hispanic and non-Hispanic Caribbean immigrants into existing EL structures.
Students experience bias based on misinformation and misunderstanding
Another way that immigrant youths are affected by the current political climate is that they may be treated as criminals and accused of breaking laws. This may come from classmates or even teachers or administrators who do not understand U.S. immigration law. It is important to know that seeking asylum at any US border is legal under international human rights law and the U.S. Refugee Act of 1980.
In fact, the total number of refugees resettled each year is almost always significantly less than that permitted by the President in consultation with Congress.
Immigrant students and their families often face instability
Finally, factors like distance from family networks and legal expenditures destabilize young people. Pursuing permanent legal status in the U.S. is a complicated process that takes years, time when travel and financial and educational opportunities are curtailed. Undocumented families face the possibility of incarceration and deportation. The legal limbo of immigration is disruptive for young people. The factors together can contribute to feelings of isolation and powerlessness.
Social studies teachers are uniquely poised to counteract these feelings.
What are some ways that students can take informed action in their school and community and globally?
Empower students to become knowledgeable global citizens
As social studies educators, we seek to foster civil discourse and provide opportunities for self-reflection. This approach to teaching supports a global community. Yet we need to think carefully about how we can support our students who are already (at such a young age) global citizens. Their family members, friends, and even their own lives have provided enriching experiences and important lessons. Celebrating and lifting up this important knowledge is enriching for everyone. All students and educators are crucial to breaking stereotypes, promoting anti-bias approaches, and ultimately creating classrooms where social justice is a guiding principle.
Leverage websites, nonfiction, and even Young Adult novels
- Several websites include resources for teaching about immigration, including WeTeachNYC, the Anti-Defamation League, and Colorín Colorado.
- There are many great books about immigration policy and its social effects, too. Some of my favorite recent books are: Adam Goodman’s The Deportation Machine and Ana Minian’s Undocumented Lives: The Untold Story of Mexican Migration.
- Many excellent histories of immigration in the U.S. are available. I would recommend Mae M. Ngai’s Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America.
- The Social Justice Books project has a nice list of recommended reading for elementary, middle, and YA/Adult fiction and non-fiction.
Explore the new 6–12 U.S. and World History programs:
🌏 Inspire students to experience history through multiple lenses and inquiry as they learn to practice civil discourse on their way to becoming future-ready citizens.
Heather Vrana is Associate Professor of History at the University of Florida and the author and co-editor of several books, including This City Belongs to You: A History of Student Activism in Guatemala, Anti-colonial Texts from Central American Student Movements, and most recently with Julie Gibbings, Out of the Shadow: Revisiting Revolution from Post-peace Guatemala. She just published an article on Catholic charity and disability in late-19th and early-20th century Guatemala in the Hispanic American Historical Review and is currently writing a book entitled Guerrilla Medicine and Disability in Cold War Central America.
Sources
Migration Policy Institute, “Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States.” Accessed online June 25, 2021. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-and-immigration-united-states-2020#immig-now-historical.
Migration Policy Institute, “U.S. Immigration Trends Data Hub, Legal Immigration to the United States, 1820-Present.” Accessed online June 25, 2021. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/us-immigration-trends.
National Immigration Forum, “Fact Sheet: U.S. Asylum Process.” January 10, 2019. Accessed online June 25, 2021. https://immigrationforum.org/article/fact-sheet-u-s-asylum-process/.
Pentón Herrera, Luis Javier. “Indigenous Students from Latin America in the United States.” Observatorio Reports. DOI:10.15427/OR042–08/2018EN. Accessed online June 25, 2021. https://cervantesobservatorio.fas.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/august_report_en_0.pdf.
Rumbaut, Rubén G. and Douglas S. Massey, “Immigration and Language Diversity in the United States.” Daedalus 142, no. 3 (Summer 2013): 141–154.
United States Department of State, “Immigrant Visa Process.” Accessed online June 25, 2021. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-1-submit-a-petition.html.
United States Library of Congress, “Immigration and Relocation in U.S. History, Global Timeline.” Accessed online June 25, 2021. https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/immigration/global-timeline/.
