ELL News Headlines

Psychologists say that for migrant kids already in government facilities, a short separation from parents may be enough to cause lasting damage. See more on this topic from AP News.

President Donald Trump wants to combine the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Labor into a single agency focused on workforce readiness and career development. But the plan, which was announced during a cabinet meeting Thursday, will need congressional approval. That's likely to be a tough lift. Similar efforts to scrap the nearly 40-year-old education department or combine it with another agency have fallen flat.

Jodi Goodwin, an attorney in Harlingen, Tex., has heard more than two dozen variations of those stories from Central American mothers who have been detained for days or weeks without their children. So far, she has not been able to locate a single one of their offspring. "It's just a total labyrinth," she said. Even though the Trump administration has halted its policy of separating illegal border crossers from their children, many of the over 2,300 youths removed from migrant parents since May 5 remain in shelters and foster homes across the country. The U.S. government has done little to help with the reunifications, attorneys say, prompting them to launch a frantic, improvised effort to find the children — some of them toddlers.

Hurricane Maria severely disrupted Puerto Rico's public schools when it hit Sept. 20, 2017. Now, the island's education system is poised to undergo a controversial transition. In response to the storm as well as falling enrollment and the government’s long-term financial woes, the Puerto Rico Department of Education plans to close nearly 25 percent of its public schools before the 2018-19 school year begins. Under the plan, 263 schools will close and 847 schools will remain open.

After weeks of insisting Democrats were ultimately responsible for the migrant-child crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, President Donald Trump did an about-face Wednesday, reversing a policy that has separated thousands of migrant children from their families — most of whom are coming from Central American countries. But meanwhile, thousands of children will remain in federal custody and are entitled to certain education services while they remain there.

Erik Hanshew is an Assistant Federal Public Defender in El Paso, Texas. In this column, he writes, “The president Wednesday signed an executive order ending the policy, but that changes nothing for my clients or the thousands of other parents who have already lost their kids at the border."

American Airlines and United Continental asked the U.S. government not to fly immigrant children separated from their families on their aircraft as President Donald Trump said he was abandoning his "zero tolerance" border-enforcement policy. In joining critics of the U.S. detention of the youngsters, the carriers highlighted a central mystery in the political and human-rights crisis: Federal officials weren’t saying how the children were being ferried from near the U.S.-Mexico border to a network of facilities in 17 states.

As the Trump administration's policy of separating parents from children at the border has sparked outrage across the country, teachers are speaking out and joining nationwide protests.

Larry Ferlazzo's new question-of-the-week is: "How can we help English Language Learners meet the Common Core Standards?" On one hand, you have Common Core Standards or, in states that don't use Common Core, there are similar ones. On the other hand, you have English Language Learners, who are supposed to learn everything in the Standards as well as learn a new language and culture at the same time. This series will explore how to make the two challenges connect.

Last month, U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions announced the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy of charging migrants in federal criminal court before their cases reach immigration court. When adults are taken to court, they are separated from their children, who are sent to shelters. Here's a guide to key issues concerning family separations.