"Please Don't Take My Papá": The Consequences for Youth When Immigration Officials "Go Rogue" on Latina/o Families and Schools

• In Event: 52.067 - Homelessness Should Be No Child's Heritage: Addressing the Impact of Homelessness in Education

Abstract

In 2011 and 2012, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Latino/a Detroit executed a number of raids without warrants on unsuspecting families, busting through front doors of personal residences in the middle of night, detaining families after church and arresting parents while they were taking their children to school. These practices were part of a national trend that began in 2007 and included other states such as California, Louisiana, Washington, Connecticut, Iowa, and many others. Several reports were published documenting the impact of these raids on children and schools (Ayers, 2013; Filindra, Blanding and Coll, 2011; Mendoza, and Olivos, 2009; Thronson, 2008).). The purpose of this presentation is to introduce a preliminary examination of the effect these raids had on Latino/a children and schools in the Latino community of Southwest Detroit.

This qualitative study uses data collected from a critical ethnothography of Southwest Detroit between 2011 and 2012. According to Thomas (1993), critical ethnographies are a form of research that seeks to reveal systemic injustices and inequities as way to bring voice to struggles on the ground. Through an analysis of community narratives and notes from community meetings, protests, newspaper clippings and naturalistic observation, as well as semi-structured interviews of school officials, agency personnel and families touched by the raids, this study demonstrates how immigration policy impacts child poverty and decreases educational opportunities for Latinos/as in one Detroit community.

Preliminary explorations found that Latino/a children and schools in Southwest Detroit are deeply impacted by the ongoing stress and pressures proliferated by immigration policies and ICE raids. In one example, older siblings are said to have departed from their educational journey in order to care for younger siblings left behind when parents were detained and/or deported. In another example children were inattentive and/or had low attendance at school because they were concerned that their parents might not be there upon their return home. These stories and others demonstrate how raids contribute to: 1) increased poverty and homelessness, 2) decreased school attendance, 3) decreased school adjustment, and 4) decreased school retention. This presentation will not only describe these outcomes but suggest ways in which educators and policy makers may alleviate the situation.

Recognizing the paucity of research that examines the impact of immigration policies and/or the intersection of immigration reform and school reform, this study adds to current research in teacher education by asking, how immigration policy impacts child poverty and indeed, how it contributes to the achievement gap in Latino/a communities.

Authors

• Sandra M. Gonzales, Wayne State University

• Juan Jose Martinez, Cesar Chavez Academy High School