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February 19, 2025
Ensure immigrant students feel safe and supported in school by fostering an inclusive environment, building community partnerships, and understanding their legal rights. This FAQ guide provides educators with actionable strategies to help students and families navigate uncertainty while cultivating a sense of belonging.
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By Adam Strom and Jessica Lander
The climate of fear stemming from immigration enforcement policies and political rhetoric has significantly impacted immigrant students and their families in America's high schools. According to a UCLA study, over two-thirds of principals report that federal immigration enforcement policies and related political rhetoric have harmed student well-being, learning, and parental support. Specifically:
According to a recent study, principals spend on average more than 1.5 hours per week addressing immigration-related concerns. To support affected students and families, most principals have:
Studies note that this climate of fear creates significant stress and anxiety for immigrant students and their families, undermining their sense of safety and ability to fully engage in school. Principals describe immigrant communities as feeling "very much on edge" due to deportation fears and hostile rhetoric.
This climate of fear extends beyond just immigrant students, heightening anxiety for all youth. The challenges also affect and exacerbate other issues schools face, such as political incivility, the spread of misinformation and threats of violence.
Educators can take several proactive steps to support immigrant students. Addressing these interconnected challenges requires schools to prioritize inclusive climates, mental health support, and community partnerships while advocating for policies that protect vulnerable families. Here are the key actions educators can take:
Schools must actively educate and empower their staff, students and families by clarifying the legal rights of immigrant students. It's important to communicate that all young people have the right to receive a high-quality education, regardless of their immigration status. Schools should review and share their policies regarding interactions with law enforcement and immigration officials, ensuring staff members understand proper protocols. Training should include specific scenarios, allowing staff to respond appropriately to potential situations involving government officials on school premises.
By taking these steps, schools can create an environment where immigrant students feel a sense of belonging, connection and pride in their identities without feeling singled out or pressured.
"Cultivating belonging" means creating a school environment where all students, particularly immigrant students, feel valued, included and connected to their peers, staff and the broader school community. Schools can achieve this by intentionally celebrating diversity, fostering relationships and making immigrant students' identities visible in meaningful ways. Here are concrete strategies to cultivate belonging:
Additionally, schools should provide information about resources and contacts for addressing immigration-related challenges.
By taking these steps, schools can create an environment where immigrant students feel a sense of belonging, connection and pride in their identities without feeling singled out or pressured.
Peer support is crucial for immigrant students as it helps them acclimate to new environments, build friendships and navigate challenging times. Schools can foster peer support by implementing buddy systems or peer mentoring programs, connecting immigrant students with trained mentors who provide guidance. Forming student-led alliances that promote belonging and community also helps in creating a supportive environment and ensuring students have access to essential resources and opportunities.
Schools must address bullying and harassment seriously by establishing clear policies and practices that ensure every student feels safe. There must be consequences for perpetrators and support systems for victims. Schools should clearly state that anti-immigrant bullying and rhetoric are unacceptable. They should also create anonymous reporting systems and train students and staff on how to recognize and safely intervene in bullying incidents. Finally, restorative approaches should be introduced to focus on understanding the impact of bullying and repairing harm.
Open and empathetic communication is essential. Schools should foster transparent communication among educators, families and students using their preferred languages. It's important to provide clear and frequent opportunities for families to ask questions, including anonymous options and one-on-one check-ins. Schools should be prepared to respond with empathy and actively listen when students express concerns. Sharing accurate information about student rights and school policies is vital, along with providing a clear explanation of mandatory reporting requirements to build trust. At the same time, it is important not to overstep our roles as educators and help steer families and students to outside support when needed.
Schools should actively partner with local organizations to provide resources and support for immigrant families. This can include collaborations to host workshops on immigration and social services, distributing materials from local nonprofits, and inviting representatives to school events to connect with families. It's also important to maintain a list of local legal aid and community organizations to share when needed. This partnership approach helps enhance communication and understanding of available assistance.
Adam Strom has spent his entire educational career working to create communities of belonging within and outside the classroom. He is the executive director of Re-Imagining Migration, an organization whose mission is to advance the education and well-being of immigrant-origin youth, decrease bias and hatred against young people of diverse origins, and help rising generations develop the critical understanding necessary to build and sustain welcoming and inclusive communities.
Jessica Lander is the History Co:Lab Senior Policy Fellow and Re-Imagining Migration Senior Education Policy Fellow. She is an award-winning teacher, writer and author. For much of the last decade, she has taught history and civics to recent immigrant students in a Massachusetts public high school and has won numerous awards for her teaching, including being named the 2023 Massachusetts History Teacher of the Year and one of the 2023 Top Ten national History Teachers of the Year presented by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History; a 2023 MA Teacher of the Year Finalist, presented by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education; and a Top 50 Finalist for the Global Teacher Prize in 2021, presented by the Varkey Foundation. Jessica writes frequently about education policy and teaching. She is the author of Making Americans: Stories of Historic Struggles, New Ideas, and Inspiration in Immigrant Education, recently awarded the 2024 George Orwell Award, presented to, "writers who have made outstanding contributions to the critical analysis of public discourse"; a coauthor of Powerful Partnerships: A Teacher’s Guide to Engaging Families for Student Success; and the author of Driving Backwards.
This free, for-credit webinar will empower educators to recognize the rights of all students to a quality education, regardless of immigration status, while equipping them with strategies to address anti-immigrant prejudice, foster belonging, and support immigrant students effectively.
Explore dozens of rich, engaging resources to teach about immigration policy, history, and awareness with preK-12 students.
