¿Qué es América? – American Ideals and Reality:
Immigration and Human Rights for Immigrant Students
Kelly McCloskey-Romero
The Academic Setting
What does America stand for? Many American high school students may not know how to answer this question. Indeed, it is a very personal one, one that those of us who live in America may answer upon reflection and study of the ideals of the United States of America and the issues involved in achieving our ideals. As the face of America changes, immigrants, who come to this country for a variety of reasons, are an increasingly important part of this question and the myriad of answers we may discover. The purpose of this unit ¿Qué es América? is to facilitate this process of inquiry and discovery.
As a teacher of Bilingual Communication Skills at Albuquerque High School, my overall goal is to increase students’ abilities to communicate in both English and Spanish. My students are all Spanish speakers, most of whom are Mexican or Cuban immigrants. Whereas some of these students are monolingual and have recently moved to the USA, others were born outside of the country but have lived here for a considerable amount of time. Even those students who are bilingual tend to identify themselves as Mexicans or Cubans first and Americans second. In addition to those students who are strong Spanish speakers, there are also Chicano students who were born here in the U.S. and are often more proficient in English than in Spanish, though they are strongly connected to the Hispanic and Mexican communities of New Mexico. All of these students are straddling at least two cultures as they experience their lives here in the United States from a unique cultural perspective. These immigrant students are members of all three of the possible immigrant categories - undocumented immigrants, permanent residents, and naturalized citizens. They stand to benefit greatly from an exploration of what the United States was founded upon and what it is today and specifically an exploration of where they fit into America.
Because of the complex circumstances, becoming more and more common across the country of these students’ lives, , the question of what it means to be an American is quite relevant. I would like to expose my Communication Skills students to the ideals and the reality of the American experience, in order that they may negotiate their place within American society. Through the sharing of knowledge and experiences, I would like to encourage and empower my students to feel a part of the changing identity of our nation.
This curriculum unit seeks to explore the following questions:
* What does America stand for?
* Why are so many people immigrating to the United States?
* What role do immigrants play in our society, past and present?
* What are immigrants’ rights, from undocumented persons to residents to naturalized citizens?
* How can immigrants be involved in the American political system?
* What is the role of Hispanics, including immigrants, in America today?
* What does U. S. citizenship involve?
* Are American Constitutional ideals being upheld in the treatment of undocumented and documented immigrants?
Narrative
Through the exploration of the above-mentioned questions, we will work as a class to improve the communication skills of my students. Reading, writing, speaking, and listening will be the focus as we discover the following content. A combination of the strategies of guided, shared, and independent reading, quickwrites, journal writing, and essay writing, group and individual presentations, speeches, and debates, and note-taking and oral comprehension activities will be used all along the course of this unit. These strategies and activities will be detailed in the "Implementation" section of this unit plan.
The Founding Principles of the United States of America - What does America stand for?
Beginning with the foundations of the American political system, we will study the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Through the study of these documents in English and Spanish, we will analyze them as a class, focusing upon the principles of equality, liberty, and democracy. Along with this, we will review basic elements of the American political system as preparation for the New Mexico High School Competency Exam. Our focus, like the focus of this ATI seminar, will be upon the ideals of the U.S.A and the issues which make attaining those ideals a challenge.
Beginning with the Declaration of Independence, we will focus upon the second paragraph of the preamble to the Declaration, discussing the three central political principles embodied in it — equality and human rights, consent of the governed, and limited government. First of all, our discussion of equality and human rights will involve the way that these rights have been granted to more and more Americans (women, African-Americans, immigrants, and others) over the course of our history due to the demands of these groups. Secondly, we will discuss the idea of government by consent and the importance of participation in politics by Americans and residents of the United States. Finally, we will highlight the principle of limited government and the right of the governed to alter or abolish their own government. We will approach the Declaration of Independence as an expression of the ideals of American government.
In the same vein, we will study the U. S. Constitution and especially the Bill of Rights. The latter is the assertion of certain vital limits upon American federal government and rights of the governed. We will examine these in detail, as well as the "Civil War Amendments" focusing upon controversial issues and debates that have been sparked by their interpretation. Specifically, we will discuss equality for various groups of Americans (women and minorities), democratic freedoms, religious freedom, right of privacy, rights of the accused, voting and participation, and campaigns and elections. In order to consider the application of these rights and freedoms to all those within U. S. borders, we will discuss and debate prayer in the schools, search and seizure laws, abortion as a privacy issue, bilingual education, affirmative action, Miranda rights, and voting and participation among immigrants and minorities.
In each of these discussions, we will look at the different sides of the issue. For
example, in discussing school prayer, we will talk about the balance of the free exercise
of religion clause and the establishment of religion clause of the First Amendment.
Integrated into these discussions of the basic rights of Americans will be a review of the
workings of American government, specifically the system of checks and balances among the
three branches of government. This basic understanding of the workings of U. S. government
is often tested on the New Mexico High School Competency Exam, which these students will
be taking in Spanish in February of 2001. Thus, the introduction to this unit, attempting
an answer to the question "What does America stand for?" will serve the dual
purpose of informing students as to the basic characteristics and values that define
American government and provoking discussion of the complexities of these issues,
throughout which students will develop their communication skills.
Immigration: Where Do We Fit In?
Once a base of knowledge about the political system has been established, the focus will turn from the ideals of our society to its reality, specifically as it affects immigrants. Exploring what it means to live in modern America, we will investigate the demographics of a changing America and how important a force Hispanics will become in the course of the next generation, when they become the largest minority. The population of Hispanic Americans, consisting primarily of Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cuban Americans, is growing about five times faster than the rest of the U. S. population, due mostly to massive immigration and a high birthrate (Banks 329). In addition, the Hispanic population is young compared to the rest of the country’s population; its median age was 25.8 compared to 33.4 for the non-Hispanic population (U. S. Bureau of the Census, 1994) Most of these Hispanic Americans are concentrated in nine states: - California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado. These states have 193 electoral votes, making up 71% of the number (270) needed to elect a President (Banks 353) These numbers point to a growing influence of Hispanics upon the American reality. To evaluate the current situation of Hispanics and how they live here in the United States, specifically focusing upon how their reality corresponds to U.S. ideals, we will discuss student experiences and case studies. Student input will be the primary source of information examined as we consider the question - Are immigrants successful in their new lives?
Having looked at how important Hispanics are to American culture and politics, we will study an overview of immigration history and where Mexicans and Cubans fit into the current immigration picture. The United States of America has been classified "a nation of immigrants;" through exploring this history, we will consider both American policy and the attitudes of the American people. In general, the United States has been an easy place to which to immigrate — policy has generally been open to immigration throughout our history. Of course, all Americans, except for Native Americans, who were mistreated by the rest of Americans, are descended from immigrants. In addition to the mostly British settlers who first settled the colonies, there were two great waves of immigration to America. The first great wave, from 1840-1860, involved primarily German and Irish immigrants, approximately 4,000,000 of them. The second great wave, that of Ellis Island mythology and fame, brought 26 million immigrants from all over the world, including Asia and America as well as Europe and Africa. During this second wave, Mexicans began to emigrate to the United States in significant numbers. Currently, since 1965, we are experiencing another wave of immigration, with 700,000 - 1,000,000 immigrants arriving each year who become permanent residents and 300,000 undocumented people relocating to the United States. In discovering these facts, we will look at a history put out by the Immigration and Naturalization Service as well as a summary of immigration history in Spanish, using critical thinking to compare the two.
Throughout this immigration history, while policy has generally remained open to immigration and naturalization, public attitudes have fluctuated between the contradictory positions of liking of immigrants and embracing the mythology of an immigrant nation and a backlash against immigrants and increased desire to ‘control our borders’ (DiSipio & de la Garza 123). We are currently experiencing a backlash that has involved increased enforcement of the U.S./Mexico border, reduction of privileges for permanent residents, and attempts to deny all services, including public education, to undocumented immigrants. Through readings and attention to current events, we will trace these contradictory attitudes of support and rejection of immigration on the part of the American people.
Rights: Tying America’s Principles to the Case of Immigration
There are three categories of immigrants here in the United States: naturalized citizens, permanent residents, and undocumented persons. Most of the students in my class will all fall into one of these categories, with a few of them enjoying birthright citizenship. Although the rights of each of these groups vary, they are all covered under the basic rights guaranteed by the Constitution — specifically, due process and democratic freedoms. There is quite a gap between the rights and privileges afforded to permanent residents and U. S. citizens as opposed to undocumented residents. Permanent residents enjoy most of the privileges of citizens, though they cannot vote and they are denied access to certain jobs, particularly in the public sector. Naturalized citizens may do anything any other U. S. citizen can do, with the exception of becoming President or Vice-President. As students learn about what their rights are and what the rights are of immigrants of varying status - undocumented, residents, political refugees, and U.S. citizens, they will become empowered with knowledge to better understand their situation and perhaps change it.
An important element of this study will be to examine in what practical situations
immigrants face questions of human rights. As legal institutions have reflected the
ambivalence of society towards immigration (Carliner xi), there is a situation of the good
news and the bad news for immigrants. First of all, many of the protections of the
Constitution apply to all persons within U. S. borders, be they aliens or citizens: the
freedom of religion, speech, press, and the right of assembly; the bars against
unreasonable searches and seizures, charges for infamous crimes without an indictment,
double jeopardy, and self-incrimination; the assurance of due process of law in preserving
life, liberty, and property; the requirement of equal protection of laws; the right in
criminal cases to a speedy and public trial, an impartial jury, with notice of charges,
confrontation of adverse witnesses, the compulsory attendance of supporting witnesses, and
the assistance of counsel, and to a trial by jury in civil cases; the prohibition against
excessive bail and fines, cruel and unusual punishment, ex post facto (retroactive
punishment), and involuntary servitude or slavery; and the guarantee of habeus corpus
(xi). The Supreme Court upheld these rights when it ruled that vehicles may not be stopped
because people ‘look’ Spanish-speaking (Carliner 128). Aliens who are deported
are entitled to ‘procedural due process’ – a fair hearing of the charges
against them (105). INS officers may only enter residences or private places of employment
with either a warrant or consent (135). These situations represent the good news, of which
students may not be aware. Now for the bad news. Despite all of these rights guaranteed by
the U. S. Constitution, there are also cases in which they are not respected. For example,
the INS may use illegally obtained evidence in cases of deportation; these people are not
protected by the exclusionary rule (135). Government officials are not obliged to warn
people that they may refuse consent to search a private home or business without a
warrant. Some unconstitutional laws still exist that limit employment to U. S. citizens
(185). In addition within these contradictory realities lie many gray areas. For example,
one has a right to refuse to answer INS questions; however, doing so may constitute
reasonable suspicion (135).
U. S. Citizenship: How and Why
U. S. Citizenship is not an option for many undocumented students. However, awareness of the process of naturalization will help students make the most informed decision possible about their situation when they become adults within the next five years. In order to become citizens, permanent residents must live in the U. S. for five years, pass a citizenship test, and show some proficiency in English. We will look at the test, analyze it, and learn the content. The questions are quite similar to those on the New Mexico High School Competency Exam that relate to American History and our political system. More important than the basics of U. S. Citizenship, we will discuss its benefits, particularly voting rights and participation in government.
APPLICATION: Activism and Case Studies
After considering the immigration question on a practical level from the perspective of their own circumstances, we will turn to an activist slant, as we will investigate and participate in various ways to influence American politics. Specifically, we will examine case studies of immigrant rights, particularly studies from along the U. S./Mexico border, and think critically about whether or not the "natural rights" of the Declaration of Independence are being respected. Ezequiel Hernandez’ death, detainment of children along the border, the case of the Cuban prisoners who were kept in Louisiana without due process, and the horrifying statistics that characterize life in the borderlands will be studied as examples of human rights violations, while César Chavez’ victories and the successes of the Chicano movement will provide a more hopeful balance. By learning about and participating in projects with groups that deal with immigrant rights (LULAC, Catholic Social Services, Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, Human Rights Watch and the Mexican Consulate), we will exercise our rights and learn more about them.
Comparative Studies: Mexico and Cuba vs. the United States
Once we have explored which rights are supported by the U. S. Constitution and applied to the real lives of modern day immigrants, we will add some perspective by considering human rights issues in the countries of origin of these students, Mexico and Cuba. The absence of these guarantees and the presence of corruption in Mexico, particularly in rural areas, and the "machinery of repression" of Cuba’s system, demonstrate that human rights are a concern worldwide. Discussion of this sobering fact will perhaps lend some insight into this complicated human issue.
Implementation: Strategies
Throughout this unit, I will provide a variety of opportunities for students to interact with the content, practicing their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. Because literacy is such an important issue for these students, reading of a variety of texts and writing essays as well as journal writing and creative writing will be emphasized. Speeches, debates, interviews and in-class discussions will complement reading and writing as students have the opportunity become better communicators in general. Simulations, hands-on activities, and art projects are important techniques to involve all students. I believe in creating a combination of interactive, independent, traditional, and innovative strategies for the promotion of learning of any content.
Assessment of this unit will be traditional and alternative. Students will regularly be
quizzed and tested on the basic facts and figures that we will learn. They will write
persuasive essays on the controversial questions that we will face throughout our study.
As a culminating project, students will participate in an activist or volunteer event in
which they will become involved in the political process. My hope in writing this unit is
to empower these students to be more aware of the opportunities and challenges that they
face.
Weekly Lesson Plans
Week 1 – Introduction to the United States through its essential documents
We will begin the unit with an explanation of its importance. Brainstorming the reasons that people come to live in the United States and what it stands for as a country, we will discuss what prior knowledge students have of this. Tying that back to the beginning of the United States, we will study the Declaration of Independence and introduce the idea of natural rights. As an interactive way to drive home the reality of this idea of natural rights, we will perform a simulation in class. Certain hierarchies will be arbitrarily assigned (e.g. – those with brown hair will enjoy different status than those without, certain privileges, etc.). As the students experience such discrimination (with which, unfortunately, they are all too familiar) we will break down its justifications and each student will consider what he/she believes natural rights are.
When we turn to the Bill of Rights, students will write their own. This will be their independent project for the week. Study of all of these documents will be done through a bilingual approach, looking at them in both English and Spanish. Finally, we will review the basics of American government as they are tested on the New Mexico High School Competency Exam. Students will be quizzed on the most basic information about the documents and their principles without going into too much depth.
Week 2: Equality
We will start out this week by revisiting the wording of the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. We will then brainstorm situations in which the ideal did NOT match the reality. Specifically, we will go over the situations of minorities, slaves, and women. The Civil War amendments will be introduced and the current controversy over affirmative action discussed. For the weekly project, students will conduct interviews about affirmative action and do a debate in class on the issue. Finally, we will have our second quiz on the basics of the documents of the Declaration and the Bill of Rights as well as the challenges of equality issues.
Week 3: Liberty
This week’s focus is the liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and their application to the world of these students. Each day, we will address a different right and discuss it through a Socratic seminar (fish bowl style) format. These rights include: The right to privacy/search and seizure; rights of the accused - Miranda rights; freedom of religion – prayer in the schools; right to privacy – abortion. For this week’s project, students will write a personal essay on the topic of their choice. We will also review the documents themselves and the controversies related to them and take our first test.
Week 4: Immigration
Now that students have a grasp on the basic rights guaranteed by the Declaration and the Bill of Rights, we will move into discussions of immigration. First of all, we will do a visualization about the Statue of Liberty and what she represents. Considering quotes from immigrants in a variety of situations, we will discuss the schizophrenic nature of American attitudes on immigration. A brief overview of American history will document this movement between positive and negative views on immigration, as well as the importance of the changing attitudes to U. S. history.
In a critical thinking exercise, we will compare two portrayals of immigration today
– that of Elizabeth Martínez "The Terrorist War on Immigration" and that
of the INS itself "Our Immigration History." Students will do presentations on
these two readings. We will also learn important vocabulary words related to immigration
(alien, permanent resident, undocumented, etc.) This week’s project will be the
personal depiction of each student’s own journey from their home to the U.S, in
whatever form they choose (artwork, essay, presentation). Our weekly quiz will focus on
the basics of immigration history and vocabulary.
Week 5 - Immigrant Rights
During this week, we will explore the distinctions and stratifications among various immigrants (citizens, permanent residents, undocumented) and their rights under the law. We will discuss specific situations in which immigration rights are expressed every day, dealing with due process, search and seizure, etc. We will then begin to apply the basic rights to immigrant contexts, such as the way that search and seizure laws affect the searching of vehicles for undocumented aliens. The process by which we will do this will be through problem solving: Students will work in groups to apply the principles of the Bill of Rights to these situations. The project of the week will be a role play/public service announcement that students will do before the class, illustrating the immigrant right which they have been assigned. Our quiz will deal with the history of immigration and immigration rights.
Week 6: Case Studies: Ideals vs. Reality
During this week, we will read important texts that deal with the ideals and the reality of immigrant life. Considering the case of Ezequiel Hernández, Cuban immigrants in Louisiana who were illegally detained, and the reality of the U.S./Mexico border, and the writings of Tomás Rivera (y no se lo tragó la tierra) they we will discuss immigrant life with a focus upon student experiences. Literacy will be emphasized as we do guided and shared reading on these issues. We will also learn about human rights issues in student’s home countries. There will be no student project this week, only review for our immigration test.
Week 7: Citizenship: How and Why
This week of the unit will be spent reviewing the material we have learned and applying it to the U. S. citizenship test itself. We will go over examples of the test, use study techniques and games to learn the material and then take the test. This week’s project will be to interview someone who went through the citizenship process and then share learned information with the class. We will discuss the advantages of citizenship and the details of dual citizenship, which is also a possible option for these students.
Week 8: Intro to Activism and Empowerment
This week will be devoted to the exploration of resources available to U. S. immigrants. I hope that speakers from the Mexican Consulate, LULAC, MALDEF, and other community organizations will share information about their programs. We will then participate in a mandatory service project with one of these groups, helping them in their goals and learning along the way. This service learning project and a reflection will represent the final project grade for this unit. We will prepare for this participation by learning about the organizations and then we will reflect upon our experiences in discussions, journal writing, and portfolio reflections. We will also evaluate the unit as a whole.
Documentation
Unit Outline:
Day 1 - Introduction - definitions and notions of America - the Declaration of
Independence
Day 2 - The Declaration of Independence, cont’d - natural rights - simulation
activity in class with hierarchies
Day 3 - The Bill of Rights - students write their own student’s bill of rights
Day 4 - Review of the basics of American government - prior knowledge emphasis - why the
colonies separated from England
Day 5 - Quiz 1 - Documents
Day 6 - Equality: the Civil War amendments
Day 7: Equality: Minorities and immigrants/affirmative action
Day 8: Equality: Women
Day 9: Liberty: Introduction
Day 10: Quiz 2 - basics of documents and government/equality issues
Day 11: Liberty: right to privacy - search and seizure
Day 12: Liberty: rights of the accused - Miranda rights
Day 13: Liberty: freedom of religion
Day 14: Liberty: right to privacy - abortion
Day 15: TEST1- basics of documents and government/ liberty & equality issues
Day 16: Intro to Immigration - statue of liberty activity
Day 17: Immigration history - waves and backlash
Day 18: Immigration today - Martínez’ articles - terrorist war on immigration
Day 19: Stories of Immigration
Day 20: Quiz 3 - Immigration history
Day 21: Immigrant rights - distinctions & stratifications
Day 22: Immigrant issues – problem-solving – applying rights and freedoms to
immigrant contexts
Day 23: Project: public service announcement/skit
Day 24: Immigrant rights - review
Day 25: Quiz 4 - immigrant rights and issues
Day 26: Human rights and immigration - ideals vs. reality - intro
Day 27: Case study 1 - Ezequiel Hernandez
Day 28: Case study 2 - Cuban immigrants in prison
Day 29: Borderlands reality
Day 30: TEST: immigration & rights
Day 31: Citizenship: how and why
Day 32: The Citizenship test itself
Day 33: Practice - test
Day 34: review
Day 35: Test/
Day 36: Intro to activism and empowerment
Day 37: César Chávez
Day 38: Groups and resources
Day 39: Preparation: final project
Day 40: Final project – activism
Application Of New Mexico Benchmarks – Language Arts
This curriculum unit addresses the following State of New Mexico Benchmarks in the following ways.
Content Standard 1: Students will understand and use Language Arts for communication: analyze, evaluate, and use a wide range of language resources to communicate effectively; and expand and evaluate use of vocabulary and linguistic skills in order to listen, read, think, speak, and write effectively.
This content standard is the focus of any Communication Skills class. As we explore the content related to immigration rights, students will discuss, read, analyze and write about the connection between their lives and the content.
Content Standard 2: Students will understand and use Language Arts as a learning tool: analyze, understand, and use the connections between Language Arts and other disciplines; and refine critical thinking skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
This unit seeks to provide students with the opportunity to connect Social Studies and Language Arts, as students use language arts skills to analyze Social Studies content. Each document that we study will be approached with an emphasis on critical thinking skills, as student relate these rights and principles to the reality of their lives.
Content Standard 3: Students will listen and read for a variety of purposes: increase and refine the use of vocabulary appropriate to specific purposes; evaluate the quality of any given piece of written or verbal information and determine its usefulness for the intended purpose; and use print and non-print sources to apply and evaluate options to solve problems and to help meet the challenges of life.
Students will learn vocabulary in Spanish and English that relates to immigration and immigration rights, study texts and evaluate their truth and quality using critical thinking skills, and ultimately concentrating upon the applicability of the learned information to their own lives.
Content Standard 5: Students will speak clearly and write effectively for a variety of audiences and purposes. evaluate and choose the most effective strategies to organize and to deliver oral communication; use the most appropriate writing skills to fit a particular purpose by writing on a regular basis; express facts, ideas, and opinions clearly, articulately, and appropriately for a specific purpose or audience; utilize prior experiences, knowledge, culture, and home language in written and spoken products for all curriculum areas.
Students will do journal entries and formal writing assignments throughout this unit, developing their ability to express themselves in writing about their own experiences for an academic audience (the teacher) as well as for their peers.
Content Standard 8: Students will appreciate and respect their own language, culture, and literature, and will learn about the languages, cultures, and literature of others: demonstrate understanding of a variety of different cultural perspectives; and analyze, evaluate, and use social and interpersonal skills to understand and communicate effectively within their own cultures and with the cultures of others.
This study of immigration is ultimately a study of American, Mexican, and Cuban cultures and how they interact in this live and real context. Students will discuss with each other and with me the cultural implications of immigration and its realities. The presence of persons of all three cultures in the classroom itself provides a fertile environment for the exploration of these issues.
Teacher’s Reading And Resource List
Interviews with representatives of the following organizations:
- Immigration and Naturalization Service
- Mexican-American Legal and Defense Fund
- El Consulado de México
- Catholic Social Services’ Refugee Resettlement Program.
- Human Rights Watch
- League of United Latin American Citizens