A new immigrant and refugee advocacy organization offers best welcoming practices for newcomer students
Every November 20th, the United Nations (UN) commemorates the UN General Assembly’s 1959 adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, a proclamation in which countries, including the United States, agreed to definitions of children’s rights to protection, education, health care, shelter, and good nutrition. The U.S. government has never signed the subsequent 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which details corresponding legislative and administrative measures. However, the U.S. educational system does have a federal mandate to provide equal access to all K-12 students, including immigrants and refugees, and that’s a big responsibility at a time when the world is witnessing high levels of migration due to war, violence, climate change, and economic scarcity, as well as to an increasingly global job market.
This year, we observe World Children’s Day at a time when the U.S. is preparing to undergo a major transition in the White House and Congress, with some politicians voicing that this mandate is too much of a burden. They suggest that these students pose a financial and security risk and even allude to the possibility of challenging the 1982 Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe, which made it illegal for states to deny students a free education based on their immigration status. But a growing number of educational advocates, including educators, school administrators, community-based leaders, policymakers, families, and civil rights organizations, have banded together to identify newcomer needs, share best educational practices, host peer-to-peer training, and engage in policy and advocacy efforts aimed at holding the education system accountable to the law.
Since its inception in August of 2022, the National Newcomer Network (NNN), which includes representation from advocacy organizations such as UnidosUS, The Education Trust, Californians Together, and the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) has grown from 40 to over 250 coalition members from 37 states. They have come together for 15 convenings to design and implement a three-pronged policy platform that includes the following:
- Upholding civil rights and providing adequate services
- Guaranteeing effective educator preparation and training
- Transforming funding and accountability systems for newcomers
Newcomer challenges are more than just language acquisition
The network is the brainchild of Alejandra Vásquez Baur, a former public school teacher who was looking for a way to support immigrant and refugee students when she served as a policy and advocacy fellow with the progressive policy think tank Next100 in 2022.
“When I got into my first full-time policy role, I was focused specifically on newcomer students. I wanted to think about how we’re serving immigrant students and what resources they need, especially when they’re first coming in,” said Vázquez Baur, NNN’s co-founder and director.
As a second-generation student of Mexican origin growing up in New Mexico’s public school system, she was surrounded in her family circle and by fellow students who had recently arrived in U.S. classrooms. But even as a teacher in the Miami-Dade County Public School System in South Florida, she saw more support for English learners (ELs) than she did for that broader immigrant or refugee experience. That inequity is due to the widespread perception in the school system that most ELs are immigrants and refugees. In reality, the vast majority of ELs are U.S.-born. At the same time, not all newcomer students are ELs, and the challenges of being a newcomer go far beyond language.
“We’re thinking about all the intersectional identities of our students and how we can support them, make sure that their identities are affirmed and represented in the curriculum, in their staff, and that they feel welcome and supported in schools,” Vázquez Baur said.
With this in mind, in 2022, Vázquez Baur partnered with Californians Together, a policy and advocacy organization focused on championing the success of multilingual learners in the state’s PK-12 educational system, to set up the first virtual meeting for advocates and practitioners across the country interested in newcomer-focused advocacy.
“There was a void that needed to be filled,” said Californians Together Deputy Director Xilonin Cruz-Gonzalez, who helped Vázquez Baur conceptualize and co-found NNN.
That need was made evident by the dozens of people who joined the national calls and the enthusiasm they expressed for them.
“They were really happy to find a community of like-minded people who want our education systems to do better for newcomers,” said Cruz-Gonzalez. “There are people who are doing amazing work where they are across the country, but they often feel very disconnected. They’re often the one person in their school or in their district that’s doing all this great work.”
“Classroom teachers are on the ground, and they get to tell us what is happening every day as a new immigration policy is implemented. Community organization leaders contribute valuable community feedback about what’s happening with parents and in the communities. School, district, and state leaders tell us how different policies at those levels are impacted by the policies above those and what would make it easier for them to do their jobs. Researchers help to provide quantitative and qualitative data,” said Vázquez Baur.
Best practices often come from unexpected places
In that process, NNN is also recognizing that good ideas come from all kinds of places. In New Orleans, a city that has long embraced diversity in a state where the governor has taken a hardline stance on immigration, Vázquez Baur found a one-year transitional program designed to help newcomer students in a charter space where they are encouraged to learn subject matter like algebra in their home languages. Even though most of the newcomer students in this program are Central American, some of them speak an Indigenous language rather than Spanish as a home language. By sitting the students in desk clusters, the teacher was able to help Indigenous students from that region who don’t speak Spanish by getting the students to help each other translate questions about North and Central American geography in multiple languages.
In Mississippi, the state’s Department of Education English Learner Support Specialist, Sandra Elliot, has found that the community is sometimes more welcoming than the policymakers touting anti-immigrant rhetoric. At the request of school districts trying to navigate an increasingly diverse student population, her department formed the Newcomer Working Group, which helps to give educators, administrators, and families the background they need on who’s coming in and what the federal guidelines are on providing for them. The group disseminates this information through infographics with QR codes that link to videos and webinars with more details.
“I think most of our educators across the state are willing to embrace ELs and students of different cultures. They just don’t know how,” Elliot explained.
Meanwhile, the communities themselves are hosting special family nights where the public can watch talent shows and sample foods from newcomers’ home countries.
“The community, in general, is reaching out more and embracing the families. I’m really impressed with the steps that our schools are taking to encourage that,” Elliott said.
Vázquez Baur is thrilled by the way these examples drive new narratives about innovation and hospitality in American culture.
“It’s just really challenging this idea that these places can’t exist in the Midwest or the Deep South, that they all exist in California and New York,” said Vázquez Baur. “Elevating those stories is important to challenge everyone’s biases, to show that even in these places, there’s capacity to do it. We just need to create both the will and the resources to make it happen.”
From best practices to better policies
Stories like these underscore the critical support systems that are cultivated in local communities, irrespective of the national political environment and rhetoric. This past summer, UnidosUS got a taste of the type of political theater that we can expect more of in 2025.
On June 4, 2024, the House Committee on Education and Workforce’s Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education held a hearing focused largely on what some committee members considered strains that immigrant students put on a school system already challenged by limited funding and unfinished learning due to the pandemic.
“The financial impact is staggering. Educating illegal immigrant children requires substantial resources, altering the learning environment for all students. Overcrowded classrooms, the need for new facilities, and strained student-to-teacher ratios are just some of the challenges,” said subcommittee chairman Rep. Aaron Bean (R-FL) during the hearing, which was titled “The Consequences of Biden’s Border Chaos for K-12 Schools.”
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), who serves as the subcommittee’s Ranking Member, acknowledged “There is no question that we have challenges in our U.S. border, we all acknowledge that. We need to fix the process.” She went on to address fellow committee members, “But immigration policy is not in the jurisdiction of this committee. So instead of using this committee as a political weapon, we should spend our time examining what support is in place for newcomer and migrant students and what policies we can have to support those students so that they can succeed.”
The subcommittee invited four witnesses to testify on this topic, but only one as a voice of dissent. That witness was UnidosUS Director of Education Policy Amalia Chamorro. Her testimony sought to elevate the nation’s legal obligation under Plyler v. Doe, in which the Supreme Court ruled in 1982 that all children, regardless of immigration status, have a right to a free public education from kindergarten to 12th grade. She also highlighted their positive contributions to learning environments that benefit all students.
“As we continue to have these discussions, it is crucial that they be based on facts. Inaccurate and misleading narratives will only work to deepen divisions,” Chamorro said. “Some will try to paint a negative picture of immigrant students, but let’s be clear, immigrant students are a significant asset in our schools.”
Her testimony also included a personal account of how strategic educational interventions helped her thrive when she herself came as an immigrant student to California from Peru when she was nine years old.
“The support that I received from my colleagues, my community, my teachers, and peers when I arrived made all the difference,” she told the committee. “I was able to navigate a new school system and pursue higher education, both of which allowed me to become a contributing member of society. My personal story aside, it is our moral obligation consistent with our American values to want all children to succeed and have a bright future.”
UnidosUS has been steadfast in its support of newcomer students, ELs, and multilingual learners. K-12 Sr. Policy Analyst Brian Ortega is representing UnidosUS on the leadership team of the National Newcomer Network.
“When I heard about the work that the National Newcomer Network was doing, I immediately got involved. Being a former DACA recipient, this hits home for me. I know what it’s like to navigate the education system as an undocumented student, and I’ve seen my parents struggle as a result of their immigrant status, he told ProgressReport.co. “Arriving in a new country is not an easy decision and the narrative that is going around about newcomer students is heartbreaking. I’m excited to represent UnidosUS in this work and to contribute to the incredible support and resources that the National Newcomer Network is providing educators and school leaders across the nation. I’m honored to bring my personal experiences and passion to this work, and I look forward to working with this community to create meaningful change.”
Embracing our shared human condition
In Minneapolis, a midwestern metropolitan area that has seen not only a growth in immigration but a diversification in origins from East Africa to Southeast Asia to Central America, Vázquez Baur was able to observe newcomer students joining twice-weekly geography and culture classes where they got to compare common U.S. lifeways with those of their own.
Right before Mother’s Day, for example, they discussed different ways of honoring mother figures. They were then asked to write about that concept in their home language while creating Mother’s Day cards reflecting their cultural understandings of moms and other caretakers.
Part of celebrating diversity is recognizing the shared human experience, noted Marion Tizón, director of the Minneapolis Public School District’s Office of Latine Achievement. Combined, these cultural traditions, worldviews, and practices are the assets NNN believes can lead to greater innovation in revamping and retrofitting the U.S. school system to abide by the law. Recognizing that all humans have assets means anyone can be an educational advocate.
Tizón is a Peruvian-American who was born in the United States but spent a significant portion of her adult years working and raising a family back in Peru before returning to Minneapolis to teach.
She often finds herself consoling newcomer mothers struggling with parenting adolescents in a new cultural reality by discussing her own trials and tribulations in that realm.
“I think what we need to do as educators is really focus on the connection piece because sometimes people don’t realize that we have a lot in common just because we’re human,” said Tizón. “A lot of times, what I’ve found is that kids and parents just want to tell their story. They want to be heard, they want some empathy, and a lot of times, just reaching out is a huge thing that anyone can do. You do so much just by being human.”
–NNN invites anyone interested in advocating for newcomers in the U.S. school system to fill out an online survey. From there, a NNN representative will reach out for a more detailed explanation of the program and possible avenues of collaboration.
–Author Julienne Gage is a former UnidosUS staff member and longtime contributor to the Progress Report blog. She is currently obtaining her PhD in Anthropology in Florida International University’s Global and Sociocultural Studies Department.