Stressed, Overworked, and Not Sure Who to Trust: How Public School Educators Navigate Immigration Enforcement

• In Event: 61.068 - MTCC Roundtable Session 23
  In Roundtable Session: 61.068-12 - Politics of Movement: Across and Within Education Spaces

Abstract

Students from immigrant backgrounds have experienced increased threat and fear of the Trump Administration’s ramped up immigration enforcement. Missing from the discourse and research are the educators—the teachers, administrators, and staff—who work closely with these students. This work investigates the ways in which the wellbeing and professional responsibilities of educators who work with immigrant students have been affected by the intensification of immigration enforcement. This study finds that educators exhibit symptoms consistent with Secondary Traumatic Stress, are overworked, and feel a sense of deterioration of trust amongst their school community. This work illuminates how the Trump Administration’s approaches to immigration enforcement is also harming educators, and consequently, students and school communities.

Authors

• Shena Sanchez, University of California - Los Angeles

• Patricia C. Gándara, University of California - Los Angeles

• Patricia Martin, University of California - Los Angeles

• Rachel Freeman, University of California - Los Angeles