Education is a ‘currency of love’ for migrant parents

Gabrielle Oliveira discusses the views immigrants hold on the United States and the futures they can build here, especially for their children.

Oliveira’s research finds that amid these resource challenges, there is a new divergence from trends from the 1980s through the early 2000s “where the first generation of immigrants had a social mobility much steeper than the second generation. We’re seeing (more variations in mobility) now, because the number of second-generation immigrants is growing so much.”

While English-language learners “don’t score as well academically versus the U.S.-born kids, by fifth grade, they’re equal in formal testing. And after that, (the first generation) slightly surpasses in terms of achievement,” she explained. “It’s not so much just about being first- and second-generation; it has to do with zip code and which schools they’re going to … because a lot of these kids are often sent to overcrowded schools that are underfunded, and that has a huge impact on what they can achieve.”

“If they’re younger, they’re more likely to actually stay in school and graduate,” Oliveira added. “Adolescents who arrived here as adolescents feel often that they have less of an incentive to graduate and stay in school, because they’re thinking, ‘What if I only have two years?’ and ‘Maybe I just want to work and get income while I’m here.’”

Her book holds that the biggest challenge facing school districts in supporting migrant families is staffing, especially in the case of language access.

“When you don’t have folks that are speakers of the children’s main language … communication can lead to very distant relationships where you push these families further away,” she explained, “at a time they’re already worried about taking their kids to school.”

A Stanford University analysis of three years of daily attendance data from five school districts in California’s Central Valley found an average 22% increase in student absences in January and February 2025 alone, compared with the same months in previous years.

Oliveira’s book encourages districts to create translator volunteer opportunities and cultural events like potlucks for parents to participate and share their culture in the classroom: “Even if they’re busy working and it’s only 30 minutes where they’re in the schools and they’re doing a little bit of translating … or sharing their food and history, it builds trust between the kids … in this moment of invisibility where they’re afraid to call attention or assert their belonging.”

“If we don’t make immigration policy thinking about children, we’re stuck in this cycle of damaging the lives of very young people,” she said. “It’s designed to hurt in this way; it’s this idea of deterrence. The more you do that, the less people are going to try to come. The terror is part of the strategy, but long-term, in the fabric of society … it generates exclusion and consistent trauma in these young people’s lives.”

“These families are not here to take … It’s the complete opposite. They’re here to give the gift of education, to give the gift of a better life,” she added. “In talking about immigration policy, I tend to see more common ground when we talk about that, about how we make sure we’re thinking about the well-being of children.”