Challenging anti-immigrant rhetoric: Teaching root causes of migration in U.S. schools

• In Event: Pedagogies of Migration: Teaching and Learning across Global Contexts

Proposal

In a small town in Massachusetts, community members fight over the opening of a family migrant shelter (Cramer, 2024). In Washington D.C. a recent rally against fentanyl blames immigration and the border. The debate over immigration policy as well as a focus on the U.S./ Mexico border has taken center stage during political campaigns in the recent presidential campaigns. The issue is heavily divided by political affiliation, however, many in the United States continue to remain ignorant on the complexities of understanding migration, immigration policy and the context behind why many people migrate (Pew Research Center, 2024). A recent study demonstrated the impact of anti-immigrant views on the health of newcomers. Utilizing Critical Refugee Studies (Espiritu et al. 2022) as a framework, this paper explores the necessity and experiences of teaching the root causes of migration in two different contexts, a secondary high school elective course, and a required course in a M.A. program centered on migration. The paper will pull from reflections, student evaluations and field notes to share key pillars on teaching the root causes of migration. The author has spent the last ten years partnering with communities in Honduras and El Salvador, working on the right to remain. Pulling from these experiences into the course work, this paper will highlight the importance of centering root causes of migration in teaching about the movement of peoples globally.

References:
Cramer, R. (2024, September 7). The shelter and the storm: What happened when the nation’s immigration crisis came to a small town in Massachusetts. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2024/migrant-shelter-norfolk-massachusetts-immigration-debate/

Espiritu, Y. Duong, L., Vang, M., Bascara, V., Um, K. Sharif, L. & Hatton, N. (2022). Departures: An introduction to critical refugee studies. University of California Press.

Pew Research Center. (2024). How Americans view the situation at the U.S.- Mexico border, its causes and consequences. https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/02/PP_2024.2.15_US-Mexico-border_REPORT.pdf

Author

• Amy M Argenal, University of California, Santa Cruz