All posts by allyson.brown

DACA recipient: Expand tuition equity for immigrants to turbocharge Georgia’s economy

For all college bound students, but in particular immigrant students, access to education is vital to support the local and national economy. Undocumented and DACA students face significant challenges when considering college as an avenue to economic mobility. Most often, immigrant youth are having to find ways to provide means to a decent way of life but only at a basic level of survival. Here we learn about Emmanuel Diaz and his affinity to his home state of Georgia. The argument to improve the economic status within the host country inspires his advocacy for tuition equity.

State policies that address college tuition access for immigrant students vary across the country. Emmanuel finds himself living in one of the most restrictive states which prohibit financial aid support and enrollment to public institutions of higher education. The U.S. is the host country to high numbers of immigrants, trending at approximately 427,000 plus immigrant students (Higher Ed Immigration Portal, 2022). There is a clear opportunity to develop policies that support economic mobility for immigrant youth. The states that are home to the most immigrants (California, Texas, Florida) have supportive policies that provide either or both access to college enrollment and financial aid support, but those state are few in number (Higher Ed Immigration Portal, 2022).

As transnationalism occurs as a global movement, laws and policies interfere with this process. Across the readings, we learn that the solutions that will alleviate these educational access challenges are restricted by policies. Fassin writes to the “promise versus the reality” of immigration: the pursuit of a better life at the expense of racialization connected to one’s immigrant identity (2011). Bias is further perpetuated with bias regarding immigrant students who do not access to continue their education. Similar to the global south immigrant movement, South Africa’s Bill of Rights functions to that of the United States’ version of the Higher Education Act of 1965 by way of granting “the right to basic education” for all students (Crush and Tawodzera, 2013). Emmanuel’s story is one of thousands and he makes the valid point of the missed opportunity for the state of Georgia to strengthen its economic wealth.

References:

Crush, J., & Tawodzera, G. (2013). The perilous trek: Zimbabwean migrant children and teachers in South Africa. In Refugees, Immigrants, and Education in the Global South (pp. 66-81). Routledge.

Fassin, D. (2011). Policing borders, producing boundaries. The governmentality of immigration in dark times. Annual Review of Anthropology, 40, 213-226.

Higher Ed Immigration Portal. (2022, April 7). Portal to the States. https://www.higheredimmigrationportal.org/states/

The Realities of Immigration (Group 5, Allyson Brown)

Most of the selected texts for this course have focused on the movement of people around the world and its impact on the education experience. So often, the story and details of why immigrants leave their homeland for new opportunities leaves out the nuanced sacrifices individuals make everyday. This particular article struck me as interesting because of the detailed account of what immigration looks like in reality. Nasema is not thinking about transnationalism or her contributions to globalization, but the safety of herself and children.

Houston, Texas has felt the impact of emergency immigration, at twice the normal rate this past fall (Lawrence, 2022). This influx of immigration is attributed to the end of the longest war in US history, where the American military has been present in Afghanistan for the last 20 years. We have read and discussed a good bit about what transnationalism and globalization look like in practice. This account from Nasema is an example of the transnationalism “from below,” meaning the individual effects of immigrants’ navigation. As we study and further consider transnationalism and this process of immigrant movement, we (America) are forced to think about the impact of immigration and its impact on education; for both Americans and immigrants students.

This article speaks to the assistance of resettlement agencies, those that aid in the transition for immigrants into the US and to access  basic resources for living (i.e: housing, food, clothes, etc.). YMCA International Services of Greater Houston is led by director Dario Lipovac and he explains the process of working with each individual immigrant to set up their resources (Lawrence, 2022). This article doesn’t go into detail about the introduction of immigrant children to the US educational system but we are learning about the challenges that come with adequately supporting students in navigating successful language, social, and cognitive development. 

The most significant takeaway from reading this article is better understanding the harsh realities that immigrants who are fleeing dangerous situations are doing so at the sacrifices of personal health, separation of families, and the large amount of trust in others to survive.

Reference

Lawrence, D. (2022, February 5). Afghan mom had to decide whether to forgo escape — or leave      

some of her kids behind. CNN Politics. https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/05/politics/afghan-refugees-us/index.html 

Student DREAMers Alliance

This is a picture of the Student DREAMers Alliance, one of the many programs supported through the Hispanic Alliance of Greenville (SC). This program supports DREAMers from Greenville area high schools in their pursuit of higher education. When I worked in college admissions, this is one of my favorite groups to work with because they are high achieving students who just want a chance at attending college. The biggest challenges are they can’t attend a local college and stay closer to home and/or the financial expense of college is too great. In their program they talk about a variety of topics from college admission, attending college, what to make of the college experience, how to finance college, etc. The challenges these students face are ones that can be alleviated, worked around or through. I’m just really passionate about advocating for the rights of all to access the same resources.