Understanding issues of immigration is critical to understanding the future of education in the United States. Yet, recent legislation and political events surrounding U.S. immigration often portray immigrants and their children as a national economic crisis and a burgeoning threat to national security. Though these issues have traveled through historical epochs in the United States, questions as to who and how many should be authorized to stay and work, and on what criteria these decisions should be made, have pervaded today’s policy climate, particularly following the economic recession.1 Sweeping legislation similar to Arizona’s SB 1070 has now passed in Georgia, Utah, Indiana, South Carolina, and Alabama, criminalizing the presence of undocumented immigrants in schools and communities. Alabama’s HB 56—the toughest enforcement measure to date—outlaws undocumented immigrants from attending public colleges, and requires K–12 public school teachers to verify their students’ legal status and report them to the state education board. The broader anti-immigration climate has further politicized the field of education, as seen in recent efforts to ban the teaching of ethnic or Latino studies in Arizona and elsewhere. Although the constitutionality of many of these laws and policies have been questioned, state legislatures are passing them within the usual legislative procedures and with the support of the majority of their electorates.

The media frenzy and political strife surrounding immigration stream from a dominant discourse that further attempts to identify effective measures to manage those being perceived as a societal burden while capitalizing on this group as an untapped resource for economic development and global competitiveness. In response to the prevailing notions surrounding immigrant populations, many scholars from multiple disciplinary