Contexts of Reception and Access to Education: Perspective of Diverse Newcomer Families in New York City

• In Event: Migrants, Asylees, and Refugees: Efforts and Responses to Welcoming Newcomers to New York City Schools

Proposal

In recent years, New York City (NYC) has witnessed an influx of asylum-seekers and immigrants from the United States (U.S.)-Mexico border. Driven by increased migration from Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Haiti, among other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, more than 2.5 million migrants crossed the border in 2023 (NPR 2023). Since the Spring of 2022, New York City has welcomed approximately 210,000 new immigrants, primarily individuals and families seeking asylum (NYTimes 2024). Many have settled in shelters and hotels in the city and enrolled in local public schools. According to government officials, the Department of Education has enrolled over 40,000 newcomer immigrant students in public schools in this same period (NYTimes 2024). Given this unprecedented arrival of newcomers into the public schools, understanding the perspective of newly arrived families and how they access and experience education and social services is critical for learners, hosting communities, and schools.
Existing research in the field of education on newcomer students primarily focuses on the perspective of students and within school settings, such as on the curriculum (Bajaj and Suresh 2018; Hos 2020), extra-curricular activities (Mendenhall and Bartlett 2018), and sense of belonging among newcomer students (Russell and Mantilla-Blanco 2022). In this study, we seek to understand the context of reception (Portes and Böröcz 1989; Portes and Rumbaut 2014) or how the economic, social, political, and legal contexts of a host society, whether positive or negative, influence the incorporation of newcomers. In particular, we are interested in the perspectives of parents and how they access educational systems and resources for their families, as well as the role of supporting organizations.
Through a qualitative study based on interviews conducted with newcomer parents and organizations supporting newcomers, we seek to understand the perspective of newly arrived families, primarily asylum-seekers from Latin America and West African countries, and how they are able to access educational services in New York City. We explore the following research questions: How does the context of reception shape their access to education? How do newly arrived parents navigate the educational systems and access resources for their children? How does their experience vary according to their background and immigration trajectory? We include a diverse group of families in the study in terms of their immigration experience and trajectory, as well as diversity across participants’ gender, age, nationality, social background, language, and educational background.
Our initial findings provide insight into the process of migration for families, their current experiences in schools in New York City, and the range of experiences living in the city and accessing resources and social services. Our study seeks to illuminate the motivations for parents migrating and the link to educational aspirations for their children. Moreover, findings from this research have the potential to influence policies and practices for supporting newcomers and asylum-seeker families accessing educational resources in New York.

Authors

• S. Garnett Russell, Columbia University Teachers College

• Camille Fabo, Teachers College Columbia University

• Victoria H Jones, Columbia University Teachers College

• Javiera Zamora Iturra, Columbia University Teachers College

• Leonardo Arevalo, Columbia University Teachers College