How Immigration Status Affects Students, Families, & Schools
What impact does the immigration status of students and family members have on schools? Learn more from these resource pages and find recommended resources related to specific topics such as school enrollment, DACA, and immigration enforcement.
What You'll Find in This Section
All students have a right to a public K-12 education regardless of immigration status. Learn more about registration and enrollment policies for ELLs and immigrant students in U.S. public schools from the following resources.
Photo credit: Becoming Bilingual (PBS Launching Young Readers).
School Registration: ELLs and Immigrant Students
Many different stakeholders in a school community may have questions about immigration enforcement on or near school campuses. This page lays out some general information, as well as examples of how specific school districts are addressing these questions.
Answering Questions about Immigration Enforcement
Researchers estimate that there are between 4-6 million children in U.S. public schools who have at least one family member who is undocumented, and the majority of these children are U.S. citizens themselves. These families are known as "mixed-status" families. Learn more about the unique challenges and concerns for these families from the resources below, as well as the strengths and achievements that educators are seeing their immigrant students and families demonstrate during uncertain times.
Children in Mixed-Status & Undocumented Families
Dreamers & DACA: Information for Schools
As news reports about immigration continue to dominate the headlines, schools and individual educators can play an important role in helping to inform and support immigrant students and families during uncertain times.
Toolkit: Helping Immigrant Families Navigate Migration Decisions and Schooling in a Different Country
Schools play a unique role in providing support and information for immigrant students and families, many of whom are English language learners.
The Crisis at the Border: What Educators Need to Know
These classroom resources and booklists address the topic of family separations, detention centers, and the situation of unaccompanied minors.
Immigrant students can face a number of difficult situations as they acclimate to a new culture. They may also be learning a new language and have significant family responsibilites or experience with trauma. These resources provide guidance on how to help address some of these needs as well as draw on student strengths and resilience.
