Immigration steps to help NM families
Children of undocumented immigrants have better chance at succeeding now
Every child should have the opportunity to live a safe, healthy and prosperous life. A powerful part of that vision is keeping families together and preserving the stability of communities.
With President Obama’s announcement of new steps for responsible immigration reform, we see a brighter future for millions of vulnerable children throughout the country and thousands of kids in New Mexico.
We cannot ignore the direct negative effects that immigration status has on the wellbeing and healthy development of children. In upcoming research about immigrant children in New Mexico commissioned by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, we found widespread stories of trauma, chronic fear, isolation and poor mental and physical health, all due to immigration status.
Stories about young kids afraid to make friends at school, in case their status is discovered; accounts of mothers who cannot accompany their sick children to the hospital because they will have to cross a checkpoint; students coming home to a nightmare scene of their suddenly empty home, not knowing if they will see their parents again.
No child should have to live with the crippling fear of losing their parents and hav- ing their family torn apart; a terrible reality that over 7 percent of K-12 New Mexican students faced every day. No child should be unable to go to school and learn. Or be afraid of getting treatment when they are sick.
In New Mexico, 85.2 percent of children with immigrant parents were U.S. citizens in 2009, according to data from the Urban Institute. And now many of those parents will have the opportunity to fairly and diligently pursue the hard work and better life for their families for which they have sacrificed so much.
Expanding opportunity for New Mexico’s hardworking immigrant families is a significant step that will go a long way in lifting the state’s most vulnerable children out of crippling poverty. This will only serve to benefit the state and strengthen the communities where these families live, work and grow.
A 2010 study by the Immigration Policy Center estimated that if undocumented immigrants gained legal status, they would contribute over $93 million to New Mexico’s state and local economies.
New Mexico has an opportunity to improve upon almost every meaningful indicator related to the education, health and well-being of our children. State policymakers, advocates, parents and local leaders have been working hard to turn the tide through policies, resources and programs that support our children and help New Mexico become a place that enables children to succeed — not fall down.
These reform policies will move that progress even further, because when families no longer live in fear, they can focus on what every parent aims to do: protecting, loving and creating the best possible future for their children.