by Jenna Noblin & Julia López-Robertson, The University of South Carolina

Miguel’s family is not very different from many immigrant families in America today, and yet this is not a story put into the news or shown in movies. Instead, it is hidden from the majority of America. From research and bits and pieces I have heard along the way, I knew that that the journey across the border into America was dangerous, but it was never shown to me just how much until reading La Linea. The closest representation I have ever seen on this topic was on the T.V. show Criminal Minds. Even that vision made the journey look safer than it really is, and that show is about serial killers!

Today, thousands of children from Middle and South America will be risking their lives to travel to America to reunite with their families or make a life for themselves here that would never be available to them in their home country. Unaccompanied, these children have to navigate a dangerous, adult world and risk their lives in order to make it here. They do all of this just to continue living in poverty, make barely enough money to survive, and be treated as second-class citizens. Hateful people talk about how immigrants are just coming across the border to take our jobs, as if they are skipping across the border for fun. We’ve all heard a “true American” ignorantly and insensitively preach this rhetoric.

Immigrants’ voices, though, aren’t heard on the topic. Reading Miguel’s journey from being bullied by law enforcement, being held-up, repeatedly avoiding raids and gang violence, threats of children being raped, the near death experiences hopping and traveling on trains, being shot at, and traveling across the desert for days struck some serious chords for me. These are our children, repeatedly risking their lives. No one would send their children through that if it weren’t necessary for the betterment of their lives and survival.

When these children arrive, we as teachers don’t usually know what has happened to them. We make assumptions about their lives and use that to set their future in motion. It is the job of teachers to take our children with all of their baggage and provide them love and support so they can access the opportunities they risked their lives for. It is our job to teach our children how to be humane to others. If we believe the hate preached by others, we aren’t doing our jobs. Will these students have their teachers’ support to be successful, as Miguel was? Or will they fall through the cracks? How will you support your immigrant children? Will you ask them to share their stories? How will they be welcome in your classrooms?

Journey through Worlds of Words during our open reading hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. To view our complete offerings of WOW Currents, please visit archival stream.

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• Themes: Jenna Noblin, Julia López-Robertson
• Descriptors: Debates & Trends, Student Connections, WOW Currents