Research and Policy: Dignifying Every Day: Policies and Practices That Impact Immigrant Students

This column provides an overview of the many policies and practices that immigrant students contend with on a daily basis. To help readers gain a better sense of the context around migration, Sanchez offers a brief discussion of world migration and displacement and describes the language policies (de jure and de facto) that immigrant students face in the US at the national, state, and local levels. Readers will also learn about the different households in which immigrant students live: transnational, refugee, mixed-status, and separated families. Before ending with an update on the US’s efforts to pass comprehensive immigration reform, she shares the rights of public-school immigrants (including the undocumented) and emphasizes that educators can take on a greater role in ensuring that these rights are protected.