Stability
Recent news accounts reporting the deportation of a respected coffee farmer illustrates the hardship some children face in public schools. This adult farmer had been brought to the US by his parents from Mexico when he was a child. In the interim, he married and had two children. He built a respected coffee farming business in Hawaii. He has been cooperating with immigration officials and waiting for 10 years for his citizenship paperwork to make its way through our court system. There is no reported evidence that he has committed any crimes while in the US. But his time in the US has come to an end, he involuntarily left for Mexico and his family has been torn apart. Why? How will his children fare during this time of separation? When will they be able to see their father in person again? He is not allowed back in the country for 10 years. This just seems cruel.
Recently, the Supreme Court ruled that President Trump's travel ban can be applied very narrowly, but also the justices ruled that people with close ties will be allowed in this country. Doesn't this send a message about immigrants already in this country? How can having 2 children with American citizenship not qualify for 'close family ties'?
Children learn best when their lives are stable. Many factors can negatively affect children's lives and learning- poverty, illness, learning challenges, moving from place to place, family instability to name a few. Let's think about this farmer's deportation order. Our government has initiated an action which could very well challenge these children's education. How will the family make their living? Can they continue to operate their coffee farm as efficiently without their father? Will this cause a slide into poverty? Will the family need to move and thus necessitate the children to leave their current schooling situation and begin anew somewhere else? Schooling transitions usually produce academic challenges. Most importantly, we all hope the family can weather this stormy time of instability and continue to maintain the ties that bind them together.
Where will Trump's policies, and those politicians who help pave the way, lead us?
Recently, the Supreme Court ruled that President Trump's travel ban can be applied very narrowly, but also the justices ruled that people with close ties will be allowed in this country. Doesn't this send a message about immigrants already in this country? How can having 2 children with American citizenship not qualify for 'close family ties'?
Children learn best when their lives are stable. Many factors can negatively affect children's lives and learning- poverty, illness, learning challenges, moving from place to place, family instability to name a few. Let's think about this farmer's deportation order. Our government has initiated an action which could very well challenge these children's education. How will the family make their living? Can they continue to operate their coffee farm as efficiently without their father? Will this cause a slide into poverty? Will the family need to move and thus necessitate the children to leave their current schooling situation and begin anew somewhere else? Schooling transitions usually produce academic challenges. Most importantly, we all hope the family can weather this stormy time of instability and continue to maintain the ties that bind them together.
Where will Trump's policies, and those politicians who help pave the way, lead us?
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