Wendy and the Lost Children
by Cara Gourley
Wendy came to the United States with her mother from El Salvador when she was twelve. They came on a work visa and her mother enrolled her in the school system. Wendy spent six years in the United States, fluently speaking the English language and immersing herself in the culture. Once she turned eighteen, however, her mother remarried a man who continually made sexual advances towards her. Believing in her own freedom, Wendy decided to move out and get her own job. Unfortunately, she can’t.
Wendy’s mother has allowed the visa to expire, leaving Wendy an illegal and undocumented alien. She can’t legally get a job in the United States. She doesn’t know anyone in El Salvador, and thinks of the United States as her home. Wendy has become stranded in a society in which she cannot fully function.
There is a problem when government policies leave children stranded. Children of illegal immigrants are legally allowed to attend school in the United States; since Plyler vs. Doe, a Supreme Court case in 1982, schools have not been able to deny children the right to an education based on their documented or undocumented status. School officials can only ask if the student resides in the school district. These “undocumented” children are allowed to stay in the public school systems until they reach the age declared by the state they live in. The Supreme Court ruled on to this way because of the 14th amendment clause in the Constitution which states “no state shall […] deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law; nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
However, where does this leave the children after they graduate from high school? Currently, they remain as illegal aliens. Young people like Wendy are left to face a world where they are lost. They have no recollection of where they came from, and therefore can’t return to live there. But these children cannot function in United States society either when they are denied the full rights of a citizen. The fundamental issue undocumented children face coming out of school is their inability to get a job. With immigrant laws in businesses tightening, it is nearly impossible for them to get any jobs other than the ones that pay only in cash, and those can be dangerous.
By allowing immigrant children to have access to public education, the United States has committed the equivalent of hinting at a secret that it will not tell. The issue is not whether or not the United States should be more or less lenient with immigration laws, it is that it has forgotten to look at the implications the laws have on immigrant children. If the undocumented children are able to be educated the public school system in the United States, they should be given the opportunity to get a job. This means giving them the knowledge they need about applying for legal status and a visa. Leaving them without this last bit of education creates the lost generations of children who are left to be poor and worthless in our society.
By providing the extra edge of educating these children on how to apply for legality and a visa, the children will no longer be lost. This addition to the work force will significantly improve the prosperity of future immigrant generations.
Sources:
http://www.americanpatrol.com/REFERENCE/PlylerVDoeSummary.html
http://www.k12.wa.us/MigrantBilingual/ImmigrantRights.aspx
http://www.k12.wa.us/MigrantBilingual/pubdocs/PlylervDoe.pdf
