Over the past year, immigration enforcement practices have expanded and intensified across the country, leaving many immigrant families facing the detention or deportation of a loved one. When a parent or primary caregiver is detained or deported, children and youth can experience significant emotional, psychological, and educational challenges. The sudden separation from a loved one can create fear, anxiety, uncertainty, and financial instability, disrupting their sense of safety and stability. These experiences can negatively affect their overall well-being, academic performance, school attendance, and ability to remain engaged in their education. For some children and youth, these disruptions may also threaten their ability to stay enrolled in school and continue their educational journey.

Teachers, counselors, and higher education professional staff are uniquely positioned to support undocumented students, and students from mixed-status families (that is, families where some members may be undocumented while others may have some kind of legal immigration status). To this end, Amie Scully (founder and CEO of Students Without Limits) and Dr. Carolina Valdivia partnered to create a guide for educators supporting students whose parents have been detained or deported. The guide is dedicated to help staff navigate those very difficult moments and connect students and their families with the support they need.

You can view and share the guide here: Guide for Educators: Supporting Students When a Parent Is Detained or Deported

Please feel free to share it with school counselors, teachers, administrators, and others in your district / campus who may find it helpful.

About Students Without Limits

Students Without Limits is a San Diego-based nonprofit organization that supports undocumented, mixed-status, and first-generation students through school- and campus-connected programming, immigration rights and relief education, college access support, financial aid guidance, emergency assistance, mentorship, and staff training.

For more information, visit: www.studentswithoutlimits.org

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At My Undocumented Life we provide up-to-date information and resources for undocumented immigrants and allies. We post scholarship opportunities that are open to undocumented students, strategies for navigating the educational system, information on how to apply for DACA/Advance Parole, news on DAPA, and much more. Most importantly, we want to provide a sense of community to our diverse group of readers. Learn more about our work here: “About Us“

Categories: Educators/Counselors, Get involved, UndocuAlly

Tags: college, deportation, detention, high school, Immigration, UndocuAlly, undocumented