Immigration

Tags: Asian ELL Students; Bilingual Instruction; Bilingualism / Biliteracy; Latino ELL Students; Other ELL Students (Middle Eastern, African, European, etc.); Parent Involvement and Outreach / PTA;

Target Population: Preschool

Research Questions the Report Poses: None; instead makes the case that newcomer families and the children within them are, and will continue to be, a significant demographic in American education.

Findings:

• 25 percent of children from newcomer families have a parent who was born in the United States.
• Two-thirds of children from newcomer families have parents who have lived in the United States for ten or more years.
• 80% of children from newcomer families are US citizens
• Almost 60% of children have at least one parent who speaks English exclusively or very well
• Three-quarters of children from newcomer families speak English exclusively or very well
• Almost half of newcomer children speak both English and another language fluently or close to fluently
• Approximately a quarter of newcomer children are from linguistically isolated households
• Children from newcomer families going to pre-school with lower prevalence than children from native born families

Policy Recommendations:

• More resources need to be devoted to getting good early education to children from newcomer families
• A re-examination must take place of education policy toward language instruction, especially views of bi-literacy and bilingualism
• Education programs can and should improve outreach to newcomer parents

• Link to Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
Child Trends
Bonnie Wahiba
4301 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Suite 350
Washington, DC 20008
E-Mail: bwahiba@childtrends.org
Phone: (202) 572-6136
Fax: (202) 362-8420 (third floor, Suite 350)

Hernandez, D., Denton, N., and Macartney, S. (2007, April). Child Trends and Children in Immigrant Families - The U.S. and 50 States: National Origins, Language, and Early Education. Albany, NY: Center for Social and Demographic Analysis at SUNY-Albany

Tags: Latino ELL Students; Rights, Parents; Rights, Students;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• What are the trends regarding racial demographics and distribution over the past few decades?
• what are they expected to be in coming years?
• What implications does the shifting demography have on the U.S.?

Findings:

• More children live in the United States than ever before, but they represent the smallest share of the population in U.S. history.
• Children are the most diverse racially and ethnically of any age group now or in the country's history, accounted for especially by immigrants from Asian and Latin American countries.
• Immigrant youth—those who migrated to the U.S. or who were born to immigrant parents—currently account for about one–quarter of all children.
• Four of every five immigrant children are U.S.-born; three–quarters of the children of unauthorized immigrants are also born in the United States.
• Children of immigrants live in every state, but their numbers and shares differ dramatically from state to state. Three–fourths of immigrant children live in just ten states:Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Texas, and Washington. Nearly half of all immigrant children live in just three states (CA, TX, and NY), and CA alone is home to 28 percent of this group).
• Within about 25 years, immigrant youth will represent about one–third of an even larger number of children.
• Because of their numbers and the challenges facing the country, immigrant youth will play an important role in the future of the United States. Their integration into American society and their accumulation of human capital require continued attention from researchers, policy makers, and the public at large.

• Read the Full Report

Passel, J.S. (2011). "Demography of Immigrant Youth: Past, Present, and Future." Immigrant Children 21 (1). The Future of Children. Retrieved from: http://www.futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=74&articleid=539.

Tags: Bilingualism / Biliteracy; Differentiated Instruction; Language of Instruction; Phonological Awareness; Transfer of Literacy Skills;

Target Population: Preschool

Research Questions the Report Poses: What programs are available to the ever-growing number of children from immigrant families?

Findings:

• Articulate a vision for providing high-quality early education to ELLs. This may be committing to reducing participation and skills gaps between ELLs and their English speaking peers, a goal of bilingualism for all prekindergarten children, or a statement of recognition of the importance of native language development.
• Expand access to state-funded preschool programs by including ELLs in targeted groups for eligibility and targeting outreach efforts for language-minority communities. This may include contracting directly with immigrant-serving organizations to provide preschool service.
• Create formal partnerships and collaborate with diverse organizations, including immigrant serving organizations, to conduct outreach for preschool.
• Move beyond generalizations to create policies and implementation guidance that provide practical strategies and approaches teachers can use in classrooms. States should ensure that that the most recent research on second-language learning informs the development of policies and practices.
• Require all prekindergarten staff-including teachers, directors, and principals-have meaningful training in second-language acquisition strategies and cultural competency to effectively work with all children and their families.
• Require preschool providers to create language access plans. Programs should have plans in place to support the native language development of ELL children and to communicate with parents who speak languages other than English. Plans should ensure that parent information is available in accessible formats and include the use of translated materials and face-to-face communication.
• Ensure that preschool curriculum and instruction support both English and home-language development and expand the number of dual-language programs.
• Encourage the hiring of bilingual teachers and provide guidance to programs on appropriate roles for bilingual staff in the prekindergarten classroom. States policymakers can support the growth of a bilingual workforce by contributing to scholarship programs and providing other incentives for teachers.

• Read the Full Report

Matthews, H., & Ewen, D. (2010, August). Early Education Programs and Children of Immigrants: Learning Each Other's Language. Urban Institute. Retrieved January 12, 2011 from: http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/412205-early-education.pdf

Tags: Intervention; Other ELL Students (Middle Eastern, African, European, etc.); Rights, Parents; Rights, Students;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• In what conditions do children of immigrants to America live?
• How can their well–being be improved?

Findings:

• Depending on their country of origin, immigrant children vary widely in their educational achievement, legal and health status, living arrangements and economic resources.
• Although participation in early childhood education programs can offset multifarious problems, immigrant children attend such programs at lower rates than do native children due to various barriers.
• Performance of immigrant children in K–12 education varies by generational status and national origin. Poor parental education, poor–quality schools, and segregated neighborhoods, however, pose risk factors for immigrant children generally.
• Youths from Asia and the Middle East are better represented in postsecondary educational institutions than those from Latin America, Laos, and Cambodia.
• There are formidable barriers to postsecondary education for youth who lack legal status despite having attending U.S. schools previously and qualifying for admission to college.
• Achievement disparities between immigrant children who do not speak English fluently and English–proficient students are wide and persistent.
• Immigrant children are less likely than native children to have health insurance and regular access to medical care.
• Although disadvantaged immigrant families face formidable barriers to upward mobility, their children can overcome these obstacles through simultaneously learning the language and culture of the host society while preserving their home country language, values, and customs.

Policy Recommendations:

• The U.S. should invest in immigrant youth to enable them to contribute to national prosperity.
• Strengthen immigrant children's access to high–quality education: enable more immigrant children to attend preschool, offer effective English language instruction, and reduce financial and nonfinancial barriers to participation in college.
• Resolve legal status issues of immigrant children.

• Read the Full Report

Tienda, M., Haskins, R. (2011) "Immigrant Children: Introducing the Issue." Immigrant Children 21 (1). The Future of Children. Retrieved from: http://www.futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=74&articleid=538.

Tags: Intervention; Language Proficiency;

Target Population: Post-secondary

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• What are the opportunities and challenges that immigrant children present to community colleges?
• What strategies can community colleges use to serve the rapidly growing population of immigrants more effectively?

Findings:

• Immigrant students experience different challenges based on when they arrived in the country and consequently how academically prepared they are (either in their home country or U.S.)
• College participation varies greatly among immigrant students based on ethnic background.
• For all high school graduates, immigrants were more likely than native–born students of the same racial or ethnic group to enroll in any form of postsecondary education.
• Immigrant college students are at higher risk of dropping out of college than native–born students. Some of the risk factors for dropping out are: enrolling at age 24 and up, having dependents, working part– or full–time, and familial obligations.
• Many immigrant students are not well prepared academically for college coursework, so they frequently need remedial education, often as a result of deficient English proficiency, before they can enroll in college–level courses.
• One of the greatest needs of immigrant students is to improve their English–language skills.
• Many immigrant students have great financial need but often lack information about how to finance college costs, and consequently they underuse financial aid resources.

Policy Recommendations:

• Outreach programs to assists students and families with academic and financial planning, help students complete college applications, and conduct college visits and educational field trips.
• Accelerated "pathways to college" programs that combine high–intensity instruction with curricular and precollege efforts aim to improve academic preparation for immigrant students during high school while strengthening their postsecondary aspirations and expectations.
• Aside from legislation and federal aid, community colleges themselves can assist students: by conducting fundraising campaigns for scholarships, and by providing services such as transportation and child care.
• Reform is needed so that federal and state aid can cover tuition for English as a Second Language (ESL) courses and remediation. The use of Pell grants to finance ESL instruction should be broadened.
• Within community colleges themselves, high-intensity language programs can extend students' learning outside the classroom by using different curricula to meet the needs of various types of immigrant students (ie seeking immediate job marketability vs. planning for eventual transfer to academic courses.
• Community colleges should also take action to hire more ESL faculty and to improve their preparation for teaching English to immigrant students.
• Community colleges should provide counseling, orientation, and academic planning tailored to the needs of immigrant students.

• Read the Full Report

Teranishi, R.T., Suarez–Orozco, C., Suarez–Orozco, M. (2011) "Immigrants in Community Colleges." Immigrant Children 21 (1). The Future of Children. Retrieved from: http://www.futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=74&articleid=544.

Tags: Parent Involvement and Outreach / PTA; Rights, Parents; Rights, Students;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses: What are the consequences of losing a Lawful Immigrant Parent to deportation? How can these experiences affect future reform and prevent further separation of loved ones?

Findings:
We estimate that more than 100,000 children have been affected by LPR parental deportation between 1997 and 2007, and that at least 88,000 of impacted children were U.S. citizens. Moreover, our analysis estimates that approximately 44,000 children were under the age of 5 when their parent was deported. In addition to these children, this analysis estimates that more than 217,000 others experienced the deportation of an immediate family member who was an LPR.

• Read the Full Report

In the Child’s Best Interest? The Consequences of Losing a Lawful Immigrant Parent to Deportation. (2010). University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved January 13, 2011 from: http://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/Human_Rights_report.pdf

Tags: Intervention; Parent Involvement and Outreach / PTA;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• What are the main patterns of K–12 experience for immigrant youth?
• What is the "immigrant paradox" and how broadly applicable is it?

Findings:

• The "immigrant paradox" is the trend that that immigrant youth enjoy academic advantages in the relative absence of the socioeconomic advantages, such as high parental education and income, which are usually associated with school success.
• This apparent advantage, however, is more pronounced among the children of Asian and African immigrants than other groups, among boys than girls, and in secondary than elementary school.
• With support from families, schools, and communities, therefore, fluency in multiple languages has academic advantages that likely factor into the immigrant paradox.
• Overall, strong family ties and parental attachment and support are resources for immigrant youth, providing the security and assistance they need to meet the challenges of school, even though this support comes in less obvious means.
• Although many immigrant youth more problematic schools that pose academic risks that could impair academic performance, such risks seem to affect these immigrant youth less than students with native–born parents, suggesting that they may be more resilient in problematic schools than their peers.
• Indeed, ECLS–K teachers rated the children of both Hispanic and Asian immigrants as better adjusted than children of U.S.–born white, Asian, Hispanic, and black parents.

Policy Recommendations:

• Targeting the Latino population is one way for policy makers to address numerous kinds of educational disparities. Moreover, given the many community and family strengths of Latin American immigrants, this population has potential to respond positively to interventions targeting these related disparities.
• Efforts by policy makers to promote college–going among immigrant youth must focus on coursework as well as on other areas of college preparation that require inside knowledge, such as knowing how to apply for aid.
• Because a lack of contact between immigrant families and schools might contribute to immigrant risks and undercut immigrant advantages, efforts to open dialogue between the two could be valuable.
• Policy–makers should seek to increase parental involvement by initiating efforts grounded in the lives of families, flexible to language and schedule barriers.

• Read the Full Report

Crosnoe, R. and Lopez Turley, R. "K–12 Educational Outcomes of Immigrant Youth." Immigrant Children 21 (1). The Future of Children. Retrieved from: http://www.futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=74&articleid=543.

Tags: Intervention; Language Proficiency; Motivation; Placement; Struggling Readers;

Target Population: Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• What is the best middle to high school transitions for ELLs?
• What happens to the ELL moving from eighth to ninth grade in a SLC?
• How are his or her unique educational needs considered?
• Is the instructional program designed to seamlessly integrate English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) instruction with the SLC or ninth?grade transitional programs?
• Is the student required to choose between accessing linguistically appropriate instruction and accessing the benefits of a career or technical academy?
• Does the student's de facto status as an ELL preclude him or her from taking part in programs and courses within the SLC schools?

Findings:

• In order to ensure that ELL students catch up with their peers, the school must place emphasis on intense ELD instruction.
• Teachers should use specialized instructional methodologies to build their abilities to teach content to ELL students.
• Beneficial to ELL transitions are the flexible delivery and scheduling of academic and non-academic supports.
• It does not appear that any one school is implementing a coherent service delivery plan. Instead, there are examples of isolated implementation of best practices in a given area, but not across the school or for all ELL students

• Read the Full Report

Lara, J., & Harford, S. (n.d.). Middle-to-High School Transition for English Language Learners: Promising School-Based Practices. Smaller Learning Communities Program. Retrieved January 13, 2011 from: http://www.edweek.org/media/final-middletohighschool.pdf

Tags: Instructional Programs; Latino ELL Students; Motivation; Rights, Students;

Target Population: High school

Research Questions the Report Poses: How well served are out-of-school immigrant youths in the state of California in general? How well served are out-of-school immigrant youths who receive services and resources from California's Migrant Education Program (MEP)?

Findings:

• Though the California Migrant Education Program's attempts to offer educational resources to OSYs, its limited funds and eligibility requirements only allow it to service about 80,000 OSYs.
• California OSYs are some of the most disadvantaged individuals in the state because their legal statuses often make access to public services difficult.
• California OSYs are very eager to continue their education, but they are often unable to do so because of a need to work.
• Approximately 80% of OSYs said their families depended on their incomes to survive.

Policy Recommendations:

• Increase funding to the California MEP
• Change eligibility requirements for receiving MEP funds so that more OSYs are able to receive them
• Offer educational opportunities that allow OSYs to both work and learn

• Link to Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
Public Policy Institute of California
500 Washington Street
Suite 800
San Francisco, California 94111
E-Mail:merina@ppic.org
Telephone: (415) 291-4400
Fax: (415) 291-4401

Hill, Laura., and Hayes, Joseph. (2007). Out-of-School Immigrant Youth. San Francisco, California: Public Policy Institute of California.

Tags: Instructional Programs; Intervention; Rights, Students;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses: What are the individual states' policies on English language learners and how are they impacting ELLs' achievement?

• Read the Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
Purchase a copy for $6.00 at www.edweek.org/go/buyQC or by calling 1-800-445-8250. Or subscribe to Education Week: www.edweek.org/go/subscribe.

Education Week. (2009). Portrait of a Population: How English Language Learners are Putting Schools to the Test. Bethesda, Maryland.

Tags: Intervention;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses: Does exposure to a disadvantaged background affect immigrant children and native children differently?

Findings:

• The public assistance program participation rate is significantly higher for immigrant children than for native children (Nearly half of immigrant households, compared to one–third of native.)
• These native–immigrant differences persist into young adulthood.
• It is not possible, however, to tell whether the link between childhood and young adult poverty results from a long–term persistence in socioeconomic outcomes or is a causal effect of the adverse exposure that occurs during the childhood years.
• Foreign–born children have the highest measured poverty rate but that U.S.–born children with immigrant parents have the highest program participation rate, most likely because citizen children qualify for more public assistance.
• The national origin groups with the largest measured poverty and program participation rates also tend to be the largest immigrant groups.
• The typical immigrant worker in the United States suffers a sizable earnings disadvantage (relative to native–born workers) upon arrival, but some of this disadvantage disappears with time spent in the United States.
• Skills differ across immigrant cohorts, with more recent cohorts being relatively less skilled than earlier cohorts.

• Read the Full Report

Borjas, G. (2011) "Poverty and Program Participation Among Immigrant Children." Immigrant Children 21 (1). The Future of Children. Retrieved from: http://www.futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=74&articleid=548

Tags: Curriculum; Intervention;

Target Population: Preschool, Early Education

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• What is the relationship between children's school readiness skills at kindergarten entry and reading and mathematics achievement through the fifth grade?
• What kindergarten program factors predict the development of nonacademic school readiness skills?
• In particular, is attendance at a full–day program related to nonacademic school readiness?

Findings:

• After controlling for nonacademic readiness at kindergarten, children who had attended a full–day program at kindergarten showed poorer mathematics performance in fifth grade than did children who had attended a part–day kindergarten program.
• Attendance in a full–day kindergarten program was negatively associated with attitudes toward learning, self–control, and interpersonal skills, and was positively related toward internalizing (measured by a scale indicating presence of anxiety, loneliness, low self–esteem, and sadness) and externalizing behaviors.
• With the exception of class size (the effect of which was counterintuitive), few kindergarten program features were related to nonacademic readiness skills.
• Instead, positive home background factors, such as higher income and higher parental involvement with the school, were associated with all five dimensions of nonacademic school readiness skills.
• Higher income and more parental involvement were positively related to a child's attitudes toward learning, self–control, and interpersonal skills and negatively predictive of internalizing and externalizing actions.
• Our analyses reinforce the findings of earlier studies that suggest that full–day kindergarten programs may not enhance achievement in the long term. Furthermore, our study raises the possibility that full–day kindergarten programs may actually be detrimental to mathematics performance and nonacademic readiness skills.
• Our results also suggest that investments in the development of nonacademic school readiness skills may not only raise overall achievement but may also narrow the achievement gap between minority and white students. Indeed, on average, white students enter kindergarten with better nonacademic skills than do blacks and Hispanics.

Policy Recommendations:

• This suggests that interventions that aim to improve family circumstances, including programs designed to enhance parenting may be one way of improving children's academic success.
• Focus on enhancing nonacademic readiness skills of minority students in order to narrow the achievement gap.
• Ultimately, the decision of where policymakers should direct funds needs to be guided by a cost–benefit analysis that compares investments in full–day kindergarten programs with investments in other potential types of interventions, such as those that promote nonacademic readiness skills.

• Read the Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
To order RAND documents or to obtain additional information, contact Distribution Services: Telephone: (310) 451.7002; Fax: (310) 451.6915; Email: order@rand.org

Le, V., Kirby, S.N., Barney, H., Setodji, C.M., Gershwin, D. (2006). "School Readiness, Full–Day Kindergarten, and Student Achievement." Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. Retrieved from http://www.aecf.org/upload/publicationfiles/ec3624j67.pdf.

Tags: Bilingual Instruction; Differentiated Instruction; Language of Instruction; Placement;

Target Population: Elementary School

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• What are the key elements of successful bilingual schools?
• How do these six high–achieving bilingual schools implement those strategies?

Findings:
Among the features of effective schools and effective programs for English learner found in these six schools were:

• The bilingual programs were a school-wide effort.
• Teachers collaborated and team–taught, particularly for ELD instruction.
• Staff demonstrated extensive language and cultural competence.
• Staff displayed overall support for language and cultural diversity.
• Staff demonstrated a focus on the individual student and differentiated instruction.
• The school culture emphasized consistent monitoring of students' progress and teaching to rigorous academic standards.
• Staff articulated rigorous expectations of staff and students.
• Consistent leadership supported and benefited programs and instruction.
• Staff demonstrated a focus on consistent, coherent program design.

Policy Recommendations:

• Rather than debate the best approach for all English learners, we should improve schools by employing the most effective practices, whether using only English or with some form of bilingual instruction.
• Staff should identify areas of strength already in place at their own school, and then decide which paradigm features schools might improve their school.
• Additional research should be conducted, making use of the tools developed by the five–year Proposition 227 study to identify other successful schools with large proportions of English learners. Additional documentation of successful schools can counterbalance the impact of state and federal accountability systems that more often emphasize the schools that fail to perform to standards.

• Read the Full Report

Gold, N. (2006) Successful Bilingual Schools: Six Effective Programs in California. San Diego, CA: San Diego County Office of Education.

Tags: Latino ELL Students;

Target Population: Preschool, Elementary, Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: How have the schools changed in the past ten years in terms of enrollment and demographics?

Findings:

• Hispanics account for 3 million of 4.7 million additional students in American public schools from 1993–94 to 2002–03, or 64% of the increase. The number of black students increased by 1.1 million, and the number of Asians grew by half a million. Meanwhile, white public school enrollment dropped by 35,000.
• White students continued to attend schools populated primarily by other whites and relatively few attended schools populated primarily by minorities.
• A relatively small number of schools absorbed most of the increase in Hispanic enrollment and that those schools differ in important ways from schools less affected by Hispanic population growth.
• Nationwide, the average share of white students in Hispanic–impacted schools decreased from 60% to 38%. Meanwhile, in all other schools the white share declined more modestly from 71% to 66%.
• Across all grades, new schools differ from existing schools in that they are smaller, and they have more affluent students.

Policy Recommendations:
The report did not offer policy recommendations.

• Link to Full Report

Fry, R. (2006). The changing landscape of American public education: New students, new schools. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center.

Tags: Curriculum; Intervention; Latino ELL Students;

Target Population: High School, Post-Secondary

Research Questions the Report Poses: not specified

Findings:

• 158,000 Hispanic students took the ACT in 2010, an increase of 84% since 2006. Hispanic students represent 10% of the ACT-tested graduates.
• 68% of ACT-tested Hispanic high school graduates took at least a minimum core high school curriculum to prepare them for college, compared to 74% of whites and 81% of Asian American/Pacific Islander ACT-tested high school graduates.
• Average ACT Composite scores for Hispanic graduates' remained the same while American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian American/Pacific Islander, and White graduates increased between 2006 and 2010.
• None of the College Readiness Benchmarks were met by at least 50% of Hispanic graduates. While 39% of Asian American graduates and 30% of White graduates met benchmarks in all four subjects, only 11% of Hispanic graduates attained such.
• 77% of Hispanic graduates aspired to attain either a graduate/professional or a bachelor's degree, compared to 85% of white graduates.

Policy Recommendations:

• States should adopt fewer-but essential-learning standards as their new high school graduation standards, and those they adopt must lead to college and career readiness.
• States should adopt a rigorous core curriculum for all high school students whether they are bound for college or work.
• States must define "how good is good enough" for college and career readiness.
• Having appropriate and aligned standards, coupled with a core curriculum, will adequately prepare high school students only if the courses are truly challenging.
• States should begin monitoring student academic performance early to make sure younger students are on target to be ready for college and career.
• States need to establish longitudinal P-16 data systems.

• Read the Full Report

ACT Inc. (2010). The condition of college & career readiness: 2010. ACT Inc. Retrieved from: http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/cccr10/pdf/ConditionofCollegeandCareerReadiness2010.pdf

Tags: Asian ELL Students; Intervention; Latino ELL Students; Other ELL Students (Middle Eastern, African, European, etc.); Rights, Parents; Rights, Students;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• What challenges and risk factors do immigrant children face?
• What are the implications of the living arrangements of immigrant children, especially of the three most vulnerable groups (Mexican, Southeast Asian, and Black-Caribbean)?
• What unique qualities of immigrant families work to children's advantages?
• How do U.S. immigrant and integration policies shape immigrant families' circumstances?

Findings:

• Recent immigrants are more likely than more settled immigrants to live in extended families, and these are more often of lateral extension (ie co–residence with a relative in a similar stage of life) than vertical extension adults with their parents). While this offers support in the short–term, it does not have long–term benefits.
• Single–parent families have markedly higher child poverty rates than married–parent families; Cohabiting–couple families generally have child poverty rates between the two.
• Children of immigrants are considerably more likely to live with married parents than are children of natives.
• Compared to native children of their same race, immigrant children are more likely to live with extended family, but less likely to live with grandparents.
• The major challenge facing Mexican immigrants and their children is their limited opportunity for economic integration, owing in large part to their low education, skills, and financial resources, coupled with limited English proficiency and, frequently, unauthorized legal status.
• Recent Mexican immigrants are far more likely to have two–parent families, and this tendency decreases with each generation.
• Living arrangements and challenges especially vary among Southeast Asian immigrants, based on origin, refugee/nonrefugee status, and generation of arrival.
• Black Caribbean immigrant children are far more likely than other ethnicities to live in single–parent homes, specifically female–headed families due to demographics and norms in their home countries.

Policy Recommendations:

• The office of Citizenship and Immigration should work to reduce backlogs of immigrants awaiting citizenship so as to reduce time of separation within families and improve children's lives.
• To reduce immigration backlogs: adequate staffing; affording some citizens' privileges to Legal Permanent Residents, specifically reduced waiting time to bring over children and spouses, even if not parents.
• Current admission criteria need to be reevaluated and updated to account for more recent trends.
• Decrease workforce raids, and deportation in general, when children are involved.
• Though complicated and difficult, it would be very advantageous to develop policies to reduce marital dissolution and nonmarital childbearing.
• More attention and resources should be directed toward immigrant settlement. Legal immigrants and their children should be granted greater access to the social safety net regardless of citizenship status. At the very least, immigrant parents need accurate information about social welfare benefits for which they and their children are eligible.

• Read the Full Report

Landale, N., Thomas, K., Van Hook, J. (2011). "Demography of Immigrant Youth: Past, Present, and Future." Immigrant Children 21 (1). The Future of Children. Retrieved from: http://www.futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=74&articleid=540.

Tags: Intervention; Rights, Parents; Rights, Students;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• What are the current circumstances of health status among immigrant youths?
• What are the policy implications of these troubling trends and how can they be reversed?

Findings:

• Foreign–born children face several risk factors: poverty, family separation, political violence, and low rates of health insurance coverage and health care use.
• Nevertheless, researchers consistently find an immigrant health advantage across a variety of medical outcomes, for three proposed reasons:
  1. 1) Foreign–born immigrant children engage in more positive health behaviors than their U.S.–born peers (ex. Drinking and smoking less);
  2. 2) Foreign–born children tend to live in two–parent and multigenerational households with high levels of family and social support.
  3. 3) Children who immigrate may be a selectively healthy group as compared to those who stay in their home country despite problematic situations.
• The current evidence clearly indicates a link between racial discrimination and health: Youth who experience discrimination report more anxiety, more depressive symptoms, more risky health behaviors, lower self–esteem, and reduced academic motivations and expectations. There is also a link to physical health outcomes in minority children, including conditions associated with high rates of coronary heart disease and inflammatory disorders.
• Children who immigrate at younger ages have health–risk profiles similar to children born in the United States to foreign–born parents: They tend to adopt more risky health behaviors such as alcohol use, smoking, and early sexual activity, and they face a higher risk of psychiatric disorders such as depression.
• Foreign–born children experience better outcomes than do children in U.S.–born families, but this advantage fades over time and across generations.
• While first– and second–generation children fare well on many aspects of physical well–being, this advantage relative to their native peers does not always translate into good mental health.
• In 2008, nearly 45 percent of noncitizen U.S. residents, 18 percent of naturalized citizens, and 13 percent of U.S.–born citizens lacked health insurance coverage. Because most children depend on their parents to obtain health insurance, parental citizenship and immigration status can influence children's health insurance status.
• Parents of U.S. citizen children may forgo public health insurance and other services because of their own legal status and mistaken fears that they will be deemed a "public charge" if their children receive public health insurance benefits. Immigrants deemed a public charge can be denied U.S. citizenship or prohibited from sponsoring the immigration of a family member.
• When immigrants face challenges obtaining physician–based medical care, they may turn to complementary and alternative medical providers such as acupuncturists or spiritual healers.

Policy Recommendations:

• To better understand the developmental consequences of migration, national longitudinal data on the children of immigrants are also sorely needed.
• Health care providers need to be sensitive to immigrants' cultures and their preferences for particular modes of delivery (that is, times, locations, and language). For example:
  1. 1) Lay health adviser programs to educate natural leaders in immigrant communities.
  2. 2) Improved access by locating clinics within immigrant communities or near public transportation.
  3. 3) Clinic hours that extend beyond the standard 9–5 schedule.
• Policy makers need to reduce additional structural barriers limiting the ability of immigrant children and their parents to access care.
• Policy makers can also remove state and local ordinances requiring a patient to show proof of citizenship before receiving care provided by local public health departments and community clinics.
• States need to invest in outreach to increase enrollment in health insurance programs and use of existing services.

• Read the Full Report

Perreira, K.M., Ornelas, I.J. (2011) "The Physical and Psychological Well–Being of Immigrant Children." Immigrant Children 21 (1). The Future of Children. Retrieved from: http://www.futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=74&articleid=546.