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Martinez, J. (2018). Immigration is an education issue.  Retrieved from https://edreformnow.org/immigration-education-issue/

Harney, J.O. (2018). Back in the shadows? The DACA saga continues. The New England Journal of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://www.nebhe.org/thejournal/back-in-the-shadows-the-daca-saga-continues/

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A lawsuit issued by Texas and six other states declares that DACA is unlawful and creates more uncertainty for the future of the program. Currently, three judges have ordered the government to partially continue the program, but if the Texas lawsuit is successful, it may force an expedited Supreme Court ruling on the issue.

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Washington

Three judges have ordered the Trump administration to continue a program that has shielded hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation. Now, a lawsuit filed in Texas seeks to shut down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and may create a legal clash that could speed the issue's path to the Supreme Court.

President Donald Trump's decision in September to phase out the Obama-era program, called DACA, resulted in protests and a failed congressional effort to salvage it. Experts say it's a matter of when, not if, the Supreme Court will rule on the program. It could be the second opportunity for the high court to weigh in on a high-profile decision of the president's, with a ruling on Trump's travel ban expected before the end of June.

Josh Blackman, a professor at South Texas College of Law Houston, said the Texas lawsuit filed May 1 tees up "a fast pass to the Supreme Court."

If Texas and six other states persuade a judge to issue a nationwide order barring the government from continuing DACA, that decision could conflict with existing judges' orders telling the government it must partially continue the program. That's the kind of conflict the Supreme Court generally steps in to address.

The high court has already finished hearing arguments ahead of its summer break at the end of June, and it's rare for the court to hear arguments again before October. But if judges issue conflicting orders on what the government must do with DACA, the court might be asked to make an interim, procedural decision, said Stephen Yale-Loehr, who teaches immigration law at Cornell University's law school. The Texas lawsuit "creates even more uncertainty in what is going to happen," he said.

DACA, created in 2012, has provided protection from deportation and work permits for about 800,000 young people who came to the U.S. as children and stayed illegally. A person enrolled in the program gets protection from deportation that lasts two years and can be renewed.

Judges in California and New York have ruled that the Trump administration must allow current DACA participants to renew their enrollments, but the government doesn't have to process new applications. A ruling by a judge in the District of Columbia would require the government to also process new applications, but it has been put on hold until late July.

While these lawsuits challenged Trump's decision to wind down DACA, the lawsuit filed by Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina and West Virginia aims to end it. The states argue the creation of the program was unlawful, an overreach by President Barack Obama, a conclusion the Trump administration agrees with.

And the states filed the case in a way to put it before a potentially sympathetic judge, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville, Texas.

Hanen criticized the Obama administration for lax enforcement of immigration laws. And in 2015 he ruled against an expansion of DACA by Obama as well as a program that would have protected the parents of children who are in the country legally. His ruling blocking the programs was upheld by an appeals court. The Supreme Court, short a member after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, was divided 4-4 on the case in 2016, leaving the lower court's ruling in place.

University of Texas law professor Stephen Vladeck said the Texas case "increases the likelihood of conflicting orders to the government and conflicting substantive conclusions about DACA's legality."

If Hanen sides with the states, he could order the government to immediately stop processing new DACA applications or renewing old ones, which would contradict the existing orders. That would create a "pretty chaotic" situation that the Supreme Court would likely want to resolve, Vladeck said.

Beyond what happens in Texas, two courts of appeal are readying to weigh in on DACA, too. Arguments before the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit are scheduled for Tuesday. And arguments before the New York City-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit are expected this summer.

There is also the possibility that the Trump administration could issue a new memo, replacing one from September, with a fuller explanation of why it chose to wind down DACA, a move that would lead to another flurry of legal filings. The fact the administration hasn't yet done that, though, suggests it may be reluctant to do so.

The Trump administration has seemed eager to get the issue to the Supreme Court quickly. Earlier this year it took the unusual step of asking the high court to hear the California case before a federal appeals court had ruled on it. The high court declined to do so in late February, but it may not be able to avoid the issue for long.

"We're moving toward the Supreme Court," Vladeck said. "How quickly depends on what happens next."

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Texas Suit Could Speed DACA's Path to Supreme Court

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Washington Three judges have ordered the Trump administration to continue a program that has shielded hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation. Now, a lawsuit filed in Texas seeks to shut down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and may create a legal clash that could speed the issue's path to the Supreme Court.

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This article explores the legality of ICE enforcement on school campuses. Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, continues to make conflicting statements on the matter, increasing the confusion surrounding this sensitive issue.

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Dive Brief:

Asked at a Tuesday Senate hearing if school staff could report undocumented students to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos replied, "I don't think they can," Chalkbeat reports.

DeVos previously commented at a House hearing that it was "a school decision" whether to report undocumented students to ICE, which prompted responses from civil rights groups that the statement stood in opposition to Plyler v. Doe, a 1982 ruling that schools must educate undocumented students .

On Tuesday, however, DeVos mentioned Plyler, though Chalkbeat reported that she also sidestepped several opportunities to reply "yes" or "no" to the undocumented student question. Her spokesperson, Liz Hill, said, "She did not avoid the question and was very clear schools are not, and should not ever become, immigration enforcement zones."

Dive Insight:

The ever-changing, highly charged political landscape has left administrators and educators stymied over what they legally can and cannot do when it comes to undocumented students. Thornier still are the practical and ethical issues swirling around the situation.

The official policy of the U.S. Department of Immigration is that it can't undertake enforcement action in "sensitive areas." These include places of worship, hospitals, funerals, weddings and schools. That said, civil rights activists have called out immigration authorities for making arrests in neighborhoods near schools, thus pushing undocumented students away from classrooms.

When administrators provide information to district families on their rights under federal, state and district policies, it may be worth keeping in mind that legal experts maintain that referring to a school as a "sanctuary" may be taken literally. That could cause families to believe schools can give them greater legal protection than is actually the case.

For instance, in Clark County, Nev., and several other districts, administrators limit ICE school access by processing requests through a district lawyer or the superintendent's office. Yet, as required by law, the school authorities will assist agents if called upon to do so, reports Education Week. ICE is a federal agency with legal authority to enforce immigration law, so there could be situations in which they can gain access to a school after making a strong enough case that it's necessary.

Back in 2004 in Albuquerque, N.M., Border Patrol Agents questioned undocumented students at a school, resulting in a suit from the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund and subsequent settlements. Now, Albuquerque officers are prevented from "stopping, questioning, detaining, investigating, or arresting" minors on or in the vicinity of public school grounds.

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DeVos tells Senate schools shouldn't become ICE enforcement zones

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Asked at a Tuesday Senate hearing if school staff could report undocumented students to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos replied, "I don't think they can," Chalkbeat reports. DeVos previously commented at a House hearing that it was "a school decision" whether to report undocumented students to ICE, which prompted responses from civil rights groups that the statement stood in opposition to Plyler v.

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How is Immigration Reform Relevant to Me as a School Counselor?

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How is Immigration Reform Relevant to Me as a School Counselor?

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Hispanic students are the largest percentage of non-white school age children in the United States, and their population is rapidly growing (Martinez, 2018). Although this student population is generally labeled as high risk, they have continued to make significant gains in educational achievements since the 1960s. DACA currently serves over 800,000 students, but the effect of immigration on education does not stop with the potential loss of this program. DACA applicants must be 15 years or older, leaving a large and vulnerable elementary population. Approximately 5.1 million children currently live with at least one undocumented family member, and 200,000 children currently live with a DACA recipient (Martinez, 2018).

While DACA is partially intact at this point, the anti-immigration sentiments being pushed by the President are leading to a chaotic and morally ambiguous climate for all immigrants in our country (Harney, 2018). Primary, secondary, and post-secondary schools are all left with more questions than answers on how to best serve the undocumented student population. Though many universities offer incentives and scholarships to help undocumented students, they are seeing enrollment decline as fear of deportation increases (Harney, 2018).

Issues concerning immigration are especially relevant to school counselors entering the field. In addition to finding resources to assist DACA recipients aspiring to go to college in light of the program’s uncertain future, there are many other points to consider as well. Increasing immigration enforcement means that more Hispanic students in all age groups are at risk of losing family to deportation or even being deported themselves. Constant fear and stress is also being placed on the community as a whole. Counselors need to provide a safe environment for these students to help provide them with the counseling and resources they need should they experience trauma or stress related to immigration concerns. I believe that a counselor’s ethical duty is to protect the students regardless of their legal status, and we must reach out and build trust with the children affected by this political turmoil.

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While exploring my topic further, I found the organization website for Education Reform Now, a group that advocates for "full and fair access to quality education opportunities". The website features a blog with articles highlighting many legal and ethical issues in education, including immigration reform and it's impact on students.

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Latinxs* are the fastest growing racial group in the United States and make up the largest percentage of non-white school-age children. Latinx students also make up a third of public charter school students. Latinx adults are likely to be immigrants and trail other ethnic groups in education. In 2015, about half of Hispanic adults were foreign born, and 35 percent of Hispanic adults lack a high school degree.

The Mexican town that my parents grew up in didn't even have a high school, and they moved to the United States knowing the educational opportunities were better here. My parents' story isn't unique, and it's one of many immigrants and their hopes for their children. Those hopes are being realized. Latinx students have made significant gains in K-12 achievement since the 1990s:

Hispanic high school dropout rates have dropped 20 percentage points;

High school graduation rates have increased 26 points.

Latinx students have made significant gains in postsecondary education, too, since the early 2000s:

The college enrollment rate gap between White and Hispanic students has narrowed from 18 percentage points to 8 percentage points; .

The number of bachelor's degrees earned by Hispanic students has more than doubled.

To maintain and maximize the gains of the last two decades for Latinx students, educators and policymakers must understand how today's immigration policies impact learning and achievement to properly respond to them. Current immigration crackdowns and the repeal of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) could undo decades of progress.

The focus on immigration and education has been on the repeal of DACA and the 800,000 DACA recipients currently at risk. The vast majority of DACA recipients are Latinx, as are the majority of undocumented immigrants. Almost half of all DACA recipients are currently pursuing an education. However, to be in the program, applicants must be at least 15 years old which means that younger students, not covered under DACA, are feeling the impact of DACA's repeal and of immigration enforcement without any protections whatseover. There are an estimated 9,000 teachers with DACA, an estimated 5.1 million children with at least one undocumented parent, and 200,000 citizen children with parents with DACA status.

Schools and policymakers at the K-12 level can take the following steps to make their schools a place where students feel safe and can focus on learning, not deportation.
Ensure K-12 schools are welcoming for immigrant families by enforcing current immigration law.
- All students - regardless of their immigration status - have the right to a public education in K-12 schools thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court's Plyler v. Doe decision.

- The Migration Policy Institute suggests removing any barriers that would cause parents to hesitate - especially in this political climate - when enrolling their children, such as asking for social security numbers on enrollment forms or requiring documents to prove age or residence within the district.

- Some school districts have declared themselves "sanctuary districts" to publicly state they will not give over information. However, even without a formal declaration, schools have no legal obligation to turn over information about students or their families to federal immigration officers without a warrant, subpoena, or court order, in part because of protections under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
Provide funding and support to educators, school leaders, and counselors in schools.
- The effects of the immigration crackdowns extend well beyond academics and also affect non-immigrant students.

- A recent nationwide survey found that 90 percent of administrators "reported observing emotional and behavioral problems among immigrant students" who fear deportation of their parents or family members or may have already experienced a family member's deportation.

- Two-thirds of respondents also said that there was fear and concern from classmates who are not targets of enforcement who fear for their friends.

- Educators who work with immigration have experienced increases in anxiety, workload, and a diminished sense of trust in schools. Teachers now feel a responsibility to get information around immigration for their students and for themselves. School counselors, already underfunded and overworked, are facing increased workloads themselves. Additional funding to hire more counselors is one way policymakers can help mitigate the effects of the current immigration crackdowns.

Look out for our next blog post on how to mitigate immigration enforcements effects in postsecondary education.

*In this post, the terms Latinx (the gender neutral form of Latino/Latina) and Hispanic are used interchangeably.

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Immigration is an Education Issue - Education Reform Now

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by Janette Martinez Latinxs* are the fastest growing racial group in the United States and make up the largest percentage of non-white school-age children. Latinx students also make up a third of public charter school students. Latinx adults are likely to be immigrants and trail other ethnic groups in education.

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Researching this topic through the Angelo State University Library, I found a recent journal article published by The New England Journal of Higher Education. The article outlines many of the implications of repealing DACA, and also explored the idea of morality versus legality in relation to this issue.

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From 2012 to 2017, nearly 15,000 New England residents participated in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA students are ineligible for federal financial aid programs, but state and institutional aid can flow to undocumented students. As of March 2017, 20 states, including Connecticut and Rhode Island, offered in-state tuition rates to undocumented students.

It's a moving target. President Donald Trump announced in September that he would repeal DACA on March 5, charging that President Barack Obama had created it unconstitutionally through executive action. The dynamic raises questions of whether protecting the DACA recipients reflects morality, regardless of its legal beginning. Trump gave Congress until that date to pass legislation addressing the legal status of undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, including nearly 800,000 approved for DACA.

In February, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration's request to speed up its appeal of two federal judges' nationwide injunctions to keep pieces of DACA. As the Chronicle of Higher Education noted, "That's good news for the so-called Dreamers trying to avoid deportation. But it doesn't provide what the students and colleges advocating on their behalf want the most: certainty."

One thing that is certain is that life for immigrants is difficult in the Trump era. In addition to trying to end DACA, the president has brandished anti-immigrant rhetoric and pushed various travel bans-some challenged, some accepted. The administration's proposed immigration reform rests on four pillars: 1) creating a path to citizenship for DACA participants, 2) securing the border, including the controversial border wall, 3) eliminating the diversity visa lottery and 4) limiting family-based immigration spouses and minor children. Meanwhile, federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials asked Boston police to detain 68 suspected illegal immigrants last year, nearly four times as many as in 2016. (Boston's Trust Act forbids the police from participating unless ICE has a criminal warrant.) Among highly visible matters, the Trump administration has canceled Temporary Protective Status for people from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan. Its Office of Refugee Resettlement denied undocumented teenagers their right to end unwanted pregnancies.
NEBHE confab
Against this backdrop, NEBHE hosted a packed session at the College Board's New England Regional Forum in Boston last week on the uncertain climate for undocumented students and related state and institution responses. The session moderated by NEBHE Associate Director of Policy & Research Candace Williams, featured: NEBHE delegate and Connecticut state Rep. Gregory Haddad, who has been a leader in supporting immigrant students; Pooja Patel, a former NEBHE policy research intern, now with the National Association for College Admissions Counselors; and Jason Corral, staff attorney at Harvard's Immigration and Refugee Clinic.

Asked about what institutions are doing, Patel noted that while a few respondents to her NEBHE survey of New England colleges and universities reacted defensively ( Of course, we wouldn't accept those students. They are breaking the law.), many are grappling with how best to serve undocumented students, including providing legal representation and advice. Tufts University has tried to actively recruit these students. One institution pointed out that it fully covered undocumented students' healthcare, Patel noted. And the very day of the NEBHE session, Southern New Hampshire University was unveiling its work with The Shapiro Foundation and TheDream.US to offer full scholarships to DACA students to pursue associate and bachelor's degree programs through one of the university's online programs. Notably, SNHU said its DACA scholarships could follow students out of the country if they were to be deported.
State of DACA
Most undocumented students in New England attend community colleges (because they're less expensive) or selective private institutions (because they have resources to help), said Patel. Still, she added, many undocumented students face massive obstacles.

California has been among the states that provided both in-state tuition rates and student aid for undocumented students. This year for the first time, applications have gone down because students don't want their names out there if that could get them deported.

Connecticut state Rep. Gregory Haddad, whose district includes the University of Connecticut, said he felt a moral obligation to support DACA from the beginning. One young woman he spoke with learned she was undocumented when she went to fill out a financial aid form; another saw a story on TV about "dreamers" and found out then that she was one.

In 2011, Connecticut began offering in-state tuition for undocumented students who were Connecticut residents and graduated from a Connecticut high school and required them to file an affidavit that they had or would apply for U.S. citizenship. In 2014, when the rule was renewed with the requirements loosened somewhat, Connecticut considered legislation allowing institutional aid for undocumented students and requiring higher education institutions to create an aid pool with 15% of tuition revenue paid by documented as well as undocumented students.

Haddad notes that DACA and immigration is an economic argument. If DACA ended tomorrow, Connecticut would lose an estimated $315 million, according to the Center for American Progress. (Massachusetts would lose an estimated $606 million.) "Immigration is a way we can grow our economy," said Haddad, especially as employers such as Electric Boat fret about an outflow of talent.

DACA opponents, on the other hand, dredge up the old arguments that immigrants are taking aid away from "our kids" but these kids are already paying into the pool, Haddad said. Some people bring up illegal activity, added Haddad, yet there's consensus that dreamers deserve a path to citizenship. As immigration reform moves toward merit-based strategies for citizenship, Haddad said we should start helping young people get on that path now. He also added that the presence of dreamers visiting legislators in the Connecticut State Capitol has been very important.

Jason Corral told the NEBHE session how the 30-year-old Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic where he is an attorney is working to prepare and protect undocumented students.

After 9/11, he said, people starting viewing immigrants as people they should fear. Obama was the most efficient enforcer of deportation; Trump is just picking up where Obama left off, but he has been more draconian with attacks on programs such as Temporary Protective Status and proposals for travel bans. What they share in common is creating a feeling that you don't belong here.
Protecting students
As Trump's attacks on immigration escalated, Harvard University President Drew Faust resisted a move to make Harvard a sanctuary campus. Corral and a lot of others were upset. But now, Corral sees the genius in Faust's rationale. The issue was you don't have to label yourself a sanctuary city to respect the U.S. Constitution and put resources behind protecting students. Those resources included hiring Corral as a special lawyer representing undocumented students, faculty and staff and hiring social work staff.

Corral noted that undocumented status can carry a stigma, whether the immigrant has came over the border from Central America or is more affluent, perhaps overstaying a visa.

Corral's focus these days: Will undocumented students have housing during breaks in the academic year if they're afraid to go back to their home countries? What about their parents coming to visit them? Are undocumented students safe to do jobs and internships or medical residencies? The students are confident in their abilities to carve out paths for themselves, Corral said, but they are worried about their families. In the face of threats to "chain migration," some of the parents say they just want their kids to achieve.

Corral said he was surprised that as an immigrants advocate, he shares many concerns with law enforcement in terms of building alliances to keep communities safe. An audience member asked if immigrant students tended to avoid confrontation given the heightened tension over deportations. Corral said he tells students who are concerned about this that they are their own best advocates. This may be especially true of high achievers at Harvard. But Corral added that he warns them that if a rally includes arrests for trespassing or blocking traffic, for example, that could lead to deportation. Sometimes, he even hesitantly advises them to be anonymous.

The shadows, all over again.
John O. Harney Related Posts: NEBHE Releases Statement Calling on Congress to Legislate Permanent Protection for DACA Participants A Chance at Life: The Value of Legislative Action and Institutional Leadership for DACA Students DACA-lamented? Spared Deportation, Immigrant Students Still Face Higher Ed Barriers is executive editor of The New England Journal of Higher Education.
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Back in the Shadows? The DACA Saga Continues - New England Board of Higher Education

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From 2012 to 2017, nearly 15,000 New England residents participated in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA students are ineligible for federal financial aid programs, but state and institutional aid can flow to undocumented students. As of March 2017, 20 states, including Connecticut and Rhode Island, offered in-state tuition rates to undocumented ...

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Legal and Ethical Issue Topic of Interest - Immigration Reform

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Legal and Ethical Issue Topic of Interest - Immigration Reform

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I am most interested in researching the legal and ethical aspects of immigration reform and the effects they have on education. I teach at a predominantly Hispanic school and many of my students live with undocumented family members and may be undocumented themselves. I feel like this is an area where ethics and law are in conflict, and I believe the future prosperity of our nation depends heavily on the way this issue is handled.

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National School Boards Association (NSBA) 

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National School Boards Association (NSBA) 

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Legal and Ethical Issues
The NSBA website contained a wide variety of useful information for all educators concerning legal and ethical issues, including state by state breakdowns of current statutes.
State Anti-Bullying Statutes
Considering the emphasis placed on creating safe school environments by preventing bullying, it was interesting to compare the statutes governing each state. I was somewhat dismayed to realize that the state of Texas still does not require cyber bullying to be addressed if it occurs off campus, and also limits the course of action available to discipline students involved in acts of bullying.
Legislation
NSBA is currently speaking out against current immigration policies in the United States and encouraging the restoration of a pathway to U.S. citizenship for qualified undocumented students (DACA). In a letter to the House of Representatives on May 10, 2018, NSBA wrote in support of several bills that provide provisions to amend DACA and ensures the education of all students in the United States, regardless of immigration status.

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Working with and through our state associations, NSBA advocates for equity and excellence in public education through school board leadership. We believe education is a civil right necessary to the dignity and freedom of the American people, and all children should have equal access to an education that maximizes his or her individual potential.

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Option 2 - American School Counselor Association (ASCA)

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Option 2 - American School Counselor Association (ASCA)

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Legal and Ethical Issues
Upon review of the ASCA website, I encountered several relevant issues pertaining directly to my future role as a school counselor in the ethical standards provided by their website.
Standard A.9. Serious and Foreseeable Harm to Self and Others
I believe this standard is of the upmost importance in light of the numerous tragic events that have occurred recently. The dramatic increase in youth suicides and school shootings dictates that counselors have a greater responsibility than ever before to notify parents and authorities of potential threats to student safety.
Legislation
In relation to this standard, I also found the ASCA is currently supporting the efforts of  Chairman Lamar Alexander in Congress to pass the School Safety and Mental Health Services Improvement Act. This act would increase available funding to hire more school psychologists, counselors, and social workers, as well as implementing more preventative services and programs. The ASCA also voices the organizations opposition to provide funding to arm teachers.

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I currently teach 5th-6th grade science at a diverse charter school in Houston, TX. I am also working towards an M. Ed. in Guidance and Counseling at Angelo State University. My future goal is to work as a school counselor and provide services to help students reach their full potential.