ELL News Headlines

Jose Gonzalez's parents brought him to the United States from Mexico just before his second birthday. In the 23 years since, he graduated high school with honors, earned an Ivy League degree, and received recognition from the Obama White House for his work teaching students in immigrant-filled Los Angeles charter schools. Now, Gonzalez faces a potentially cruel twist of fate: he could go from being lauded by the White House to being a target for deportation as part of President Donald Trump's widespread immigration crackdown.

The Trump administration announced Tuesday it would begin to unwind an Obama-era program that allows younger undocumented immigrants to live in the country without fear of deportation, calling the program unconstitutional but offering a partial delay to give Congress a chance to address the issue.

Responding to pleas from teachers, advocates, and students, the Philadelphia School District this year is implementing mandatory training in keeping the system’s tens of thousands of immigrant children safe and supported in the current political climate. Every school-based employee, from principal to cafeteria worker, is to receive instruction in everything from what information to release if immigration agents arrive at a school (none) to how to communicate with parents who speak another language.

Some immigrant parents in South Carolina are forgoing health care services for their children, including immunizations, for fear they will be separated from their families and deported, one South Carolina public health advocate said. 

More than a million students are now affected by the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in some way, according to the Texas Education Agency, as the remnants of the storm shifted east and its devastating effects on the education community continue.  That number is expected to grow.

California now leads all other states in refugee resettlement, according to State Department figures. But San Diego County — which took in the most refugees in the state last fiscal year — has long been a destination for people escaping war or persecution in their home countries. More than 3,000 refugees resettled in San Diego County during federal fiscal 2016, leading some in the community to question whether area schools — many already operating with limited resources — would be able to deliver on the refugee dream of a quality education for all in America.

Brandon McElveen's Ford F150 pickup is lifted up about six inches. He says that's just the style in the South, but this week, "it's come in handy" for driving through up to four feet of water. McElveen's a counselor at the KIPP Explore Academy elementary school in Houston. Within hours of the flooding this week, he began getting calls and messages asking for help. One was from a family with two girls on the middle school softball team he also coaches. With his truck and a borrowed kayak, he estimates he's helped more than 20 people to safety.

Hundreds of chief executives and business leaders in the U.S. have signed a letter urging President Donald Trump not to scrap a program known as "Dreamers" that prevents the deportation of young people brought to the country as children by undocumented immigrants.

This week was supposed to be the start of a brand-new school year for the 200,000, or so, students in the Houston Independent School District. Instead, kids, teachers and staff are dealing with the fallout from Harvey's record-breaking rainfall and devastating floods. Richard Carranza, Houston schools superintendent, is trying to figure out when school can start - and where, in cases where high waters flooded out schools and homes. Even as he recognizes this school year will be very different, he says the focus will be on teaching kids, wherever Harvey has scattered them.

As Lisseth Perez completed her education in the Chicago Public Schools, she kept her undocumented status private even when her college counselor, a trusted resource in the school community, kept pushing her to opportunities for which she did not qualify. Then, the day of her senior prom in early June 2015, Perez got a phone call from Loyola University Chicago's Arrupe College, a brand-new two-year college, saying they found money for her to attend. All she needed to do was pay a small deposit. Earlier this month, Perez graduated from Arrupe with an associate's degree and a full ride —including room and board— to Loyola University Chicago. Her family will not have to spend over $60,000 during the next two years.