Protecting Our Undocumented Family

Luisa spent her years within the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system as an undocumented student, having moved from Colombia. As a student in a new elementary school, she experienced the difficulties of language barriers and loneliness that can be associated with being an undocumented student in our school system. However, she also saw the immense opportunities that our schools can provide to students like her, allowing her to learn English through an English for Speakers of Other Languages program and entered the gifted program. It is the duality of experience, both opportunity and yet feeling alone, that we must address for the protection of our students. Our schools must be fully inclusive of undocumented students, providing them every resources necessary to allow them to succeed and thrive in the future and present. Schools should serve as sanctuaries for our undocumented students, where any fear of their immigration status impeding their education is allayed. We must continue the district policy of not allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to take action against students on school grounds, protecting families from being separated. The experience of our undocumented students is a defining part of the quality of our school system. It is in how we treat our most vulnerable, and the education we provide them with, that we can truly see the possibilities of our schools. Education serves as the great equalizer, presenting the door of opportunity to our students. It is imperative that we protect our undocumented family within our school system. In understanding the struggles of undocumented students by experiencing them first hand, Luisa is dedicated to ensuring the protection and advancement of our undocumented family.