Running head: COMMUNITY PROBLEM REPORT 1

Community Problem Report:

Immigration in the UTEP Community

Victoria I Canales

The University of Texas at El Paso

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Abstract

This community problem report is about immigration and how education and educators

have an impact on immigrant children or children who have immigrant parents; it will also cover

what the UTEP community is doing for immigrant students.

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Community Problem Report:

Immigration in the UTEP Community

Every day in the United States immigrant students suffer more and more, with all these

new laws and regulations. These laws under our presidency are demanding a mass deportation of

all immigrants and immigrant students back to their origin of country. They even want all DACA

students to lose their DACA programs, that gives them great chances of a good life over here,

losing their DACA will cause them to lose their opportunity of coming to school in the United

States. Despite these laws being enacted many people think and have always thought that

immigrants students should feel a sense of comfort and stability in school, no matter what

school, age, gender, and background. Many believe that educators should unite and be trained to

be able to help their students who are either immigrants or have immigrant parents. Universities

should also a lot be more publicly aware and open of immigration issues that are happening in

today’s world, and try to talk more about it around campus. Immigrant students should with or

without DACA be able to feel comfortable, safe, and welcomed going into any school, no matter

what grade and no matter where they come from and UTEP should be able to create this kind of

atmosphere for any incoming immigrant student.

Teaching Immigration in Classes

When going to school as a child and even as you get older, it always helps when you have

a teacher who is willing to help, give advice, support, and always be there for you. As you grow

older having teachers who do that for you still means a lot and makes you feel welcomed and

comfortable; many believe that teachers should be trained and should learn how to be that solid

rock for children who are immigrants or have immigrant parents. According to the Gallo and

Link (2016), teachers “create spaces for more critical attention to the impacts of navigating
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difference, such as immigration status, on teaching “(p. 181). This goes hand in hand with what

Burnett (2015) says in Empower educators to teach immigration, that we should engage

educators in showing strategies and models that can help with the thinking and speaking of

immigration laws and policy. With this come students who can feel comfortable because both

teachers and other students know what immigration laws are and can now learn how to handle

situations. Students who feel comfortable in a classroom environment will most likely do better

in school and immigrant students should not feel uncomfortable when they go into a classroom

are both good examples of what Bravo talks about in her journal. The authors states that because

the United States has many new migrants we should do more for them to make them feel

comfortable and welcomed in their transition (p. 419). According to their journal, Crawford and

Arnold (2016) believe that educators can come alongside undocumented students to make a

change (p. 197).

Educational Programs Set in Motion and Stereotypes Set Aside

Having education programs installed in schools and universities is a big help for new

incoming students, and especially immigrant students who are coming in from another country.

Having these programs can make them feel a lot more welcomed and comforted. According to

Dworkin (1994) society should improve its educational programs for immigrants, or else

“underclass grow and the United States will not benefit from the immigrants’ contributions” (p.

236). Both Robert and Klineberg can agree that there are many minorities who live in poverty

which does not give them enough useful resources or a chance at a good education. Robert

(2004) argues that immigrant students need a good foundation of math and science so that the

can keep that knowledge as they get older (p. 1209) and Klineberg (2015) says in The Changing

face of Texas and America that minorities are more likely to be living in concentrated poverty
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and to be attending overcrowded, underfunded inner-city schools that offer too few of the critical

resource and social support systems that enable young people in general to graduate from high

school and go on to college (p. 12). This all connects with putting stereotypes asides and

focusing on programs and actual knowledge. When testing immigrants, no one should stereotype

them into believing they are not as smart as us simply because they do not know English as well.

According to Thorndike in Readings in Educational and Psychological Measurement, he states

that intelligence is what intelligence tests measure is not entirely facetious (p. 151). This means

that we should not stereotype people just because they are immigrants and we should give them a

fair chance at showing their intellectual, plus we should focus more on programs for them than

judging their English.

Immigration Issues in the UTEP Community

The University of Texas at El Paso has always been knows as a trustworthy,

multicultural, unique university which is all very true since we are next door neighbors with

Juarez, Mexico. UTEP has always fought for the rights of immigrant students and DACA

students, the UTEP community should have organizations for immigrant and DACA students, at

least more public organizations. UTEP does offer some support for them, according to the Dean

of Students, DACA students have counseling support, food pantry support, and they help

students” navigate the campus community and find the resources needed to be successful

academically, professionally and socially while enrolled at UTEP” (DOSO). The University of

Texas at El Paso does have this posted on their website, it was hard to find and will be hard to

find for anyone, UTEP should be more publicly aware of the immigration issues. This website

has been the only website to talk about the immigration issues and what they offer DACA

students while they attend the university. The UTEP community should speak out more and fight
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for the student body, regardless of what their background is and what ethnicity they come from.

As demonstrated in image 1, DACA students and other students come together to protest the

immigration laws and show that education is greater than immigration. DACA students should be

given the chance to stay at school, no matter what grade, and have a good education. While

reading in the Dean of Students office website, they state that no new DACA application would

be accepted after September 5, 2017, meaning that new students that want the opportunity and

ability to get a good education over here in the United States can no longer have that chance and

future. They also state that Advance Parole to travel abroad is no longer available, meaning that

they are no longer able to travel abroad like any other student just because they are DACA

students. These are simply looking for a way to be just like anyone else, and now they do not

have the same chances or opportunities as everyone does.

Although, the immigration issues, and issues with DACA students cannot be controlled

by everyone but only by the government, there is always something that can be done as

educators, students, faculty, and here in the UTEP community. Educators all around can come

together, be trained, and their students about teach immigration issues in their classroom so that

these students who are immigrants or have immigrant parents can feel welcomed and

comfortable in their new atmosphere. Teachers who are properly trained can also be a shoulder to

lean on for their students, because all students no matter what grade or age should be able to feel

like they can trust their teacher and talk to them about anything. Having educational programs

for immigrant students can really help set a good future for them, get them prepared and help

them for more able to do the work that their classmates are doing. Finally, having good

programs, organizations, and being more publicly aware of these DACA and immigration issues

in the UTEP community can help set a good atmosphere where everyone can feel safe,
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welcomed, and comfortable, and where they can get a good education with no problem at all. All

this just turns into sticking together, uniting, not backing down so easily, and fighting for those

who deserve it because sometimes educators can have such a huge impact on a student’s life

without even knowing it.

Image 1: Students demonstrating

against immigration at UTEP

The image shows how the UTEP

community came together last year in

a protest against Trumps laws to

cancel DACA programs

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Reference Page

Gallo, S., & Link, H. (2016). Exploring the Borderlands: Elementary School Teachers’

Navigation of Immigration Practices in a New Latino Diaspora Community. Journal of

Latinos and Education, 15(3), 180-196. doi:10.1080/15348431.2015.1099531

Burnett, S., Kugler, E. G., & Tesh, C. (2015). Empower educators to teach immigration. Phi

Delta Kappan, 97(4), 15-20. doi:10.1177/0031721715619912

Dworkin, A. G. (1995). Immigration and Education: The Crisis and Opportunities (Book). Social

Science Quarterly (Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press), 76(1), 236-237.

Robert, C., Lorena, L., & Chandra, M. (2004). Immigration from Mexico into the Math/Science

Pipeline in American Education. Social Science Quarterly (Wiley-Blackwell), 85(5),

1208-1226. doi:10.1111/j.0038-4941.2004.00272.x

Klineberg, S. L. (2016). The Changing face of Texas and America. Fort Worth: Fort Worth

Business Press, 10-14.

Crawford, E. R., & Arnold, N. W. (2016). Exploring the Meaning and Paths of Advocacy for

Undocumented Students’ Access to Education. Journal of Latinos and Education, 15(3),

197-213. doi:10.1080/15348431.2015.1131691

Bravo-Moreno, Ana. “Transnational mobilities: Migrants and education.” Comparative

Education, vol. 45, no. 3, 2009, pp. 419–433. Retrieved from http://0-

www.jstor.org.lib.utep.edu/stable/40593184.

Thorndike, R. M. (2014). Measurement and evaluation in psychology and education. Pearson.

(2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1961.

Dean of Students Office. (n.d.). Retrieved April 08, 2018, from https://www.utep.edu/student-

affairs/dean-of-students-office/daca/index.htmlDean of Students Office. (n.d.). Retrieved

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April 08, 2018, from https://www.utep.edu/student-affairs/dean-of-students-

office/daca/index.html

Students demonstrating against immigration at UTEP. DeMatthews, D., & Cisneros, J. (2017,

September 14). What educators can do to help DACA students: Column. Retrieved from

https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/opinion/2017/09/14/what-educators-can-do-help-

daca-students-column/653868001/
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