Equity & Diversity

Discussion on Book About Illegal Immigration Starts Monday

By Mary Ann Zehr — October 21, 2010 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Here’s a heads up that a discussion with Helen Thorpe about her book, Just Like Us: The True Story of Four Mexican Girls Coming of Age in America, starts on Monday and runs all next week. The discussion will be hosted by Teacher as part of its book club series.

I reviewed the book, which features issues affecting students who don’t have legal papers to live in this country, on this blog when I read it back in February.

The book offers insight into what it would mean for some undocumented students in the United States if the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, or DREAM Act, were passed by the U.S. Congress. That proposed legislation would provide a path to legalization for undocumented youths who meet certain criteria and serve in the military or attend college for at least two years.

Just this week, Gabriella Gomez, the assistant secretary for legislation and congressional affairs for the U.S. Department of Education, said that U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan considers passage of the DREAM Act to be a “no-brainer.”

“He doesn’t understand why it hasn’t been done yet. You have a strong advocate in the secretary and the president to get this done,” Gomez said at a White House summit on Hispanic education.

Critics of the act say that it would provide amnesty for people who have broken U.S. laws.

Related Tags:

A version of this news article first appeared in the Learning the Language blog.