Mexico

IV: HERE AND NOW

Part 1: Migration and Immigration

Overview:
The United States is a nation built on immigration, and the culture of every state has been influenced by immigrants from many cultures. Immigration from Mexico to the U.S. is a complex and important cultural, economic, social and political issue, which affects all regions of both countries. It is also a divisive issue, with entrenched opinions on all sides. With what follows, students and teachers will be able to explore various issues related to migration and immigration.

Procedure:

1. Students may already have opinions on many of the issues that can be debated. As a first step in the debate process, teachers can use a free writing exercise in which the students express and provide support for their opinions, and, perhaps, try to identify the sources of their opinions (parents, teachers, media, experience, etc.).

There are two types of debate that could be used.
The first involves assigning roles to individual students (though more than one student can be assigned to each role). Taking on a persona makes the experience more personal for students. If the topic is immigration, roles might include:

• a legal immigrant working and sending money home to his or her family in Mexico
• a politician who opposes immigration
• the owner of a company that employs migrant workers
• a teacher of both English-speaking and non-English-speaking students etc.

Students brainstorm and research the issue from the perspective of their assigned role. The debate takes the form of a town meeting, where students assume the personas they have prepared and express their own perspectives. Rules of debate etiquette apply (for example, no insults or rude interruptions). In a larger class, two such town meetings can take place simultaneously.
The second type of debate that can be used is simpler but does not force students to look as deeply into perspectives they might not otherwise consider. Divide the class into two groups, one pro and one con. Within each of these groups, students can be divided into smaller groups to focus on specific aspects of the issue. The resulting debate should follow rules of etiqette and format. In both cases, it is helpful to have students work in groups to pool their research findings and brainstorm arguments. It might be useful for each group to have a captain who makes sure everyone's contributions are heard and noted. All students in the group should take notes.

2. On day one, after free writing (and discussion if desired), the debate is explained and students are provided with readings, such as articles from newspapers or news magazines, that support their side of the argument. They should also be encouraged to find further information on the internet or in the library.
3. On the second day, after reading their articles and thinking about how to argue their side, students meet in groups to share ideas and brainstorm more. They will also find it useful to brainstorm arguments they expect the other side to use against them, and to devise effective responses.
4. On the third day students debate the issue. It is important that all students participate in the discussion, and that all are respectful of others.
5. As homework, students can be asked to write essays (possibly persuasive in nature) in which they put forth their personal opinions. As an alternative, they can be asked to write a letter to an appropriate audience, such as the president, lawmakers, the school board. (This could be done either from their assigned personas or from their actual perspectives.) Expressing and supporting an opinion in letter form may feel more natural to some students.
6. On day four, a class discussion might include topics such as:
   • What did you learn about the issue?
   • How did your perspective or opinion change as you heard other perspectives?
   • How did it feel to argue against your own actual opinion?
   • What did you learn about debating, and what would you do differently next time?

Extensions:
Related topics which lend themselves to debate or persuasive writing include:

• NAFTA
• The environment
• Bilingual education
• The educational rights of undocumented children
• Labor laws
• Border controls
• and many more. Students will probably be able to generate lists of suitable topics.

Students who feel strongly about an issue may wish to submit a letter to the editor or editorial to the school or local newspaper. Young (or old) students (and even parents and community members) could approach the issue of immigration by looking at their own family histories. (See the Heritage Project lesson plans in the Community Connections section for more information.).

Resources:
(Links will open in new windows.)

For information on different types of debates, debate strategies, and more, see the debate handbook of The Junior State of America [PDF]

Lesson plans involving debate and current events can be found on many Web sites, though they may need to be adapted to fit the topic.

Try searching for "debate" or "current events" at The Lesson Plans Page. Several more immigration-related lessons can be found at Teachervision.

CLARO, The Center for Latin American Resources and Outreach, is the K-12 educational branch of the Latin American and Iberian Institute of the University of New Mexico. The site features a huge database of teacher resources, which can be bought or borrowed.

Lesson plans for use with the film "The City" include suggestions for teaching about immigration, stereotypes, and more. "These lessons will provide an opportunity for students and teachers to discuss immigration issues in an enriching and sensitive way...Filmed over the course of several years using nonprofessional actors -- actual immigrants from places including Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica -- "The City" offers an unprecedented look at the daily lives of the millions of recent immigrants who are virtually ignored in American society." Of particular interest are the many, many links on "The City" resources page.

There are innumerable sources on the internet for background information and student research. A few are listed here, but this is a very small sample of what is available.

A series of articles in the San Francisco Chronicle, titled "Immigration Today," covers the issue from a variety of perspectives.

Searching or browsing the following sites will turn up many relevant pages.

Youth Radio

National Public Radio. Searching this site will find useful material on almost any topic.

"The Border" from PBS and "The Border" Resources Page (many great links)

The New Americans is a PBS series from 2004. The site has lesson plans and other teacher resources.

The U.S. State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration

LA GUIA, Internet Resources for Latin America, has links to sources for current events and news, Latin American web directories, news sources, organizations, and more. Several of the links which follow were found on this site.

The Americas Program of the Interhemispheric Resource Center. The site provides coverage of border issues, a directory of organizations focused on immigration, and other border issues. The site also provides access to the monthly Borderlines, which provides news on issues in the US-Mexico border region.

Frontera Norte Sur is a monthly news source (updated much more frequently) covering the US-Mexico border. It provides current statistics and other immigration information.

Migration News. Links to academic, advocacy and governmental groups from around the world.

Migrations in History "explores the nature and complexity of the movement of peoples, cultures, ideas, and objects. Drawing from the vast and interdisciplinary collections of the Smithsonian Institution's museums, libraries, and archives, this site features the stories and artifacts of migration--what happens when people move, what they take with them, what they leave behind, and how they make their new place home."

Mexconnect.com provides hundreds of articles and photo galleries dealing with all sorts of topics—literally ALL sorts—from politics to food to pop stars. Excellent resource.

Learning about Immigration through Oral History

The Population Reference Bureau provides information "about the population dimensions of important social, economic, and political issues." The site covers topics such as immigration, population, and more. It also features an Educators Forum, with lesson plans and other materials.

Peopling North America: Population Movements & Migration "An historical overview of migratory movements, this tutorial focuses on diasporas to and within Canada, the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean from Europe, Asia, and Africa. Population movements have been occurring for tens of thousands of years and continue to the present day. We shall examine the demographic, economic, cultural, and political nature of major movements, as well as consider their growth and development, their regional and global causes, and their impact."

Who Do You Think You Are? An Introduction to Immigration History in Indiana "designed for Grades 6-12, these lessons introduce basic concepts about immigration and the resulting cultural diversity in Indiana." From the Indiana Historical History.

The Social Issues page of the Multnomah County Library Homework Center. "This web page has been created to meet the needs of Multnomah County middle and high school students researching current social issues from multiple perspectives."

The Environment:

Health and Environment Internet Resources

The Nature Conservancy in Mexico.

Sustainable Waters Project: San Pedro River. TNC is working on protecting the San Pedro River, which runs from Mexico to Arizona.

InfoNatura: Birds and Mammals of Latin America is "a source for conservation information on the birds and mammals of Latin America and the Caribbean—more than 5,500 common, rare, and endangered species in 44 countries and territories."

Eco-Index is "a searchable almanac of current and past conservation projects in Mesoamerica, with project descriptions, goals, achievements, lessons learned, and more."