We Are Americans: Undocumented Students Pursuing the American

We Are Americans: Undocumented Students Pursuing the American Dream
- Used Book in Good Condition
Winner of the CEP Mildred Garcia Award for Exemplary Scholarship

About 2.4 million children and young adults under 24 years of age are undocumented. Brought by their parents to the US as minorsâ€•many before they had reached their teensâ€•they account for about one-sixth of the total undocumented population. Illegal through no fault of their own, some 65,000 undocumented students graduate from the nation's high schools each year. They cannot get a legal job, and face enormous barriers trying to enter college to better themselvesâ€•and yet America is the only country they know and, for many, English is the only language they speak.

What future do they have? Why are we not capitalizing, as a nation, on this pool of talent that has so much to contribute? What should we be doing?

Through the inspiring stories of 16 studentsâ€•from seniors in high school to graduate studentsâ€•William Perez gives voice to the estimated 2.4 million undocumented students in the United States, and draws attention to their plight. These stories reveal howâ€•despite financial hardship, the unpredictability of living with the daily threat of deportation, restrictions of all sorts, and often in the face of discrimination by their teachersâ€•so many are not just persisting in the American educational system, but achieving academically, and moreover often participating in service to their local communities. Perez reveals what drives these young people, and the visions they have for contributing to the country they call home.

Through these stories, this book draws attention to these studentsâ€™ predicament, to stimulate the debate about putting right a wrong not of their making, and to motivate more people to call for legislation, like the stalled Dream Act, that would offer undocumented students who participate in the economy and civil life a path to citizenship.

Perez goes beyond this to discuss the social and policy issues of immigration reform. He dispels myths about illegal immigrantsâ€™ supposed drain on state and federal resources, providing authoritative evidence to the contrary. He cogently makes the caseâ€•on economic, social, and constitutional and moral groundsâ€•for more flexible policies towards undocumented immigrants. If todayâ€™s immigrants, like those of past generations, are a positive force for our society, how much truer is that where undocumented students are concerned?
Country USA
Brand Stylus Publishing (VA)
Manufacturer Routledge
Binding Paperback
ReleaseDate 2009-08-19
UnitCount 1
EANs 9781579223762

Country	USA
Brand	Stylus Publishing (VA)
Manufacturer	Routledge
Binding	Paperback
ReleaseDate	2009-08-19
UnitCount	1
EANs	9781579223762

We Are Americans: Undocumented Students Pursuing the American Dream

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