The study focused on the experiences and everyday lives of children who migrate through different routes and circumstances and end up residing in the United States with no legal residence. Thus, citizens who live with unauthorized parents (Goździak, 2014). The study aims to show multiple ways of lack of legal status affecting the lives of the young, both directly and indirectly through their parents and in shaping their social life and future chances.
Through the exploration of services and resources that are available to the young, the study aimed at giving some hopeful light to the children. In the face of encountering the public services of the immigration system at a time of radical reform of the public services. On matters of education, access to and experiences with formal schooling got assessed. However, the discussions on the role of support systems, including support from parents on schooling of their children and their involvement in their children’s education are core in helping children settle (Goździak, 2014). Also, it functions as a follow up on performance attainment. Other causes discussed include cultural differences in conceptualizing education of migrant children and reinforcing findings of other researchers like Auerbacch (2006); Rayan et.al (2010); Kennedy Cuero and Valdez (2012). Focus is on the challenges that immigrant children face, those living in the metropolitan areas of the Washington DC, in pursuing opportunities to formal education. Children living with unauthorized parents, while examining the experiences of these children, are legally vulnerable to different forms of discrimination and influences from parents and family. These outcomes affect their access to schooling and good performance attainment in their schooling.
The conceptualized perspective in the findings gets based on suspended illegality, acculturation and integration and stigma and stereotype concepts. However, studies of a single setting do not identify explanation for issues as comparative research does (Reitz & Zhang, 2011).
References
Goździak, E. M. (2014, May 11). To dream or not to dream: The effects of immigration status, discrimination, and parental influence on Latino children’s access to education. Washington, DC: Institute for the Study of International Migration. Retrieved from http://migration.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/05/07/migration.mnu021.full.pdf
Reitz, J. G, & Zhang, Y. (2011). National and Urban Contexts for the Integration of the Second Generation in the United States and Canada. In R. Alba & M. C. Waters (Eds.), The Next Generation: Immigrant Youth in a Comparative Perspective. (pp. 207-228). New York, NY: New York University Press.
