Immigrating to America through Ellis Island

When I think about immigration, one of the first images that pops into my mind is Ellis Island in New York City. I grew up on stories of my grandparents traveling from Italy and arriving in the United States at Ellis Island (one of my favorites being how my grandfather corrected the spelling of our last name on his documentation from “Marinelli” to “Marinilli”). While immigrants may not be entering the US through Ellis Island anymore, it resembles the idea that people will migrate and ultimately find themselves in a host country that could become their next home. However, what happens to these people upon entering the United States has a much fuzzier image to it: how will children get an education? How will people make money? Find a home? Learn a new language? Adapt? Conform?

https://bc-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=TN_cdi_proquest_journals_2561104666&context=PC&tab=pci_only&search_scope=pci&vid=bclib_new&lang=en_US

I have been researching trauma and the effect of Adverse Childhood Experiences play on children’s physical and mental health for many years. However, I have always considered that the ACE screening was not inclusive enough to screen people who are refugees, asylum seekers, or undocumented immigrants. I have long believed that the ACEs framework screening should include screening questions including if a person had to flee their home country to seek safety, if one or more persons in a family had been deported, if the person suffered forced family separation as a child, if one had been forced into a detention center when seeking safety.

In this article, the team of authors shows that Latinx children with varying degrees of immigration statuses, whether US-citizen born to immigrant parents, permanent resident, temporary resident, or undocumented face a higher level of macro-level trauma. The article details different aspects of trauma for Latinx immigrants and the effect this trauma has on children.

While this study is specific to many specifics of the Latinx experience, I believe that parts of the study could apply to Middle Eastern, African, or Asian immigrants as well.

https://www.uvm.edu/news/story/resettled-vermont

I chose this story for it’s connections to my home state and the University of Vermont where I went to school. The story shares a picture of how certain areas in Vermont are approaching resettlement in the small state. One education system that is highlighted is the Winooski School District which serves students from many different countries including Bhutan, Somalia and Iraq. The story emphasizes how Winooski Middle and High School is designed as a community school to support the “holistic development” of the students. I did my student teaching in a neighboring school district serving a similarly diverse population of students, but I am curious to learn more about what this community model of schooling entails and how it is different from the school that I worked at. Finally, the story also touches on the issue of food insecurity and how the community has found ways to address this issue. According to Catina (2017), “New Farms for New Americans (NFNA) is a community-based gardening and agriculture program by AALV that provides refugee and immigrant farmers with plots, training, and the necessary education to sustain their agrarian traditions in Vermont—all while growing healthy, nutritious foods for their families and neighbors” This model allows individuals to grow and have access to food that is not found at local grocery stores. Food is such a important piece of our cultural identities and I think this approach is a powerful way for individuals to feel connected to their cultures and homes.

I chose this image because it has personal meaning to me. As the daughter and granddaughter of Mexican immigrants, I watched them sacrifice so I could have more than they ever did. I am now an educator with a passion for respecting the needs of all students and their cultures, because of what they modeled for me. I am where I am today because of their sacrifices and love for me.

Life was not easy for them. They were shy to speak to the teachers and school administrators and were unable to attend many school functions due to their work and hesitancy with speaking the English language correctly. There was not a large hispanic population where I grew up and it seemed that my grandparents and older family members struggled to feel accepted by the small rural community.

They worked very hard to make sure I attended college, traveled the world, and that I had many diverse experiences. They wanted me to succeed in accomplishing all my dreams.

According to this article, and to many other pertinent studies, assessments and evaluations, immigrants are quickly becoming a large part of our work force and school environments! Diverse populations continue to rise and grow exponentially as many people from all over the globe flock to the United States due to a multitude of factors. Some of these people may be escaping hardship in their home countries, and have no other choice but to uproot their lives, families and leave the comfort of where they call home to pursue a life of safety, dignity and opportunity. 

No matter the exact reason, there are countless numbers of students from diverse populations, who are all seeking their opportunity to pursue their dreams and flourish, socially, academically, financially and culturally.

Perhaps one of the hardest plights facing this group is the loss of identify as they are forced to leave a place that, in many cases, provides a sense of purpose and cultural stability. Often, immigrants must make the extremely difficult choice of leaving loved ones behind and this loss can splinter a cohesive family unit and cause a sense of grief and loss that can feel unsurmountable. 

As educators, we are left with the task of ensuring we are ready to educate students from all kinds of cultures, backgrounds and who may be dealing with the effects of loss as they adjust to a new kind of living situation and a slew of often contradictory and confusing cultural identity dysphoria. 

First and foremost, I believe that informed practice is of the utmost importance when working with students who have recently immigrated to the country. We must understand the feelings and hardships each of these students might be facing. Additionally, we must differentiate our practice and implementation to best support these populations of students. 

This includes multiple factors of engagement and is something that should be cultivated and developed over time. For example, a first step in creating a responsive classroom environment is to provide diverse resources and media within the classroom. From the visuals to the classroom books, these should be vetted to include diverse and non-stereotyped representations of all people and cultures. This should be done so that all students, no matter their background, can feel safe and valued in the classroom environment. 

Educators should take care not to perpetuate a westernized view of the world and should also make sure they aren’t teaching from a eurocentric lens. The world is far more vast and all people and cultures should be represented to ensure an optimal learning environment for all. 

These are just a few steps we can take as educators to try and provide support to our students who have immigrated, and to all of our students as they are presented with a non-biased global-lens approach to learning.