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Navigating the anti-immigration climate

The Goals

  • We aim to understand how people communicate about immigration policies across organizations and within organizations.

  • Understand the impact of the anti-immigration climate on Prek-3rd grade learning communities comprised of children, teachers, mental health professionals and site leaders.

  • To identify strategies and develop resources for supporting school staff working with families and students impacted by the current anti-immigration climate.

What are we doing?

  • Conducting focus groups with immigrant parents of children who were in PreK-3rd grade during the 2016 Presidential election.

  • Disseminating surveys and conducting individual interviews with teachers, social workers and those who have worked with PreK-3rd grade students during the 2016 Presidential election.

  • Lastly, we are conducting one-on-one interviews with community stakeholders to get a sense of the perceived impact the 2016 election has had on the Latino community.

Project Findings

In our online survey with PreK-3rd grade educators in New York City, we find:

  • More than half of the educators worried about the impact of immigration policies on their own families.

  • Educators indicated that PreK-3rd grade students in their care demonstrated immigration worry. Educators indicated that students felt stressed about family members being deported or detained (42.9 percent at least “sometimes”), felt unsafe (42.1 percent at least “sometimes”), feared authorities (44.5 percent at least “sometimes”), and had difficulties focusing in school (39.5 percent at least “sometimes”).

  • Financial stress and immigration worry were associated with psychological distress, sleep problems, and emotional exhaustion among educators.

  • Immigration worry was associated with less perceived efficacy in calming a distressed child.

To strengthen educators’ self-perceived efficacy in calming children’s distress in an anti-immigrant climate, multiple sources of school-based support are necessary: strong organizational communication, extensive informational support, and acknowledgment of immigration-related stressors among all workforce members.

Publications