About a decade ago, my former school’s parent coordinator introduced me to a new student. This wouldn’t be a remarkable event because my school opened its doors to newcomers often. Our student population was 90% Latinx/Hispanic, many of whom emigrated from the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and other Latin American countries. This time, however, the student was fluent in neither English nor Spanish. He spoke Arabic and none of us were fluent in his home language. For the first few months, I relied on Google Translate and a student who was fluent in Arabic and English to carry us through, though I found this practice inequitable, too.

It took me too long to look up the news on Yemen and why so many folks preferred life here over there. We rarely asked about the reasons why our students matriculate at our schools. We should ask why, even with everything we see around us, families would leave home to make one here.

Today, NYC Mayor Eric Adams again berated asylum seekers:

“Too many people have come through various pathways and cavities in our border, and we have to be extremely careful because not everyone that’s come in is pursuing the American dream,” Adams says after [FOX5 News anchor Rosanna] Scotto talks about “migrant-related” crimes in NYC.

Chris Sommerfeldt

Of course, we have good research suggesting that immigrants don’t raise the crime rate. Before interrogating this further, however, it’s important to name the assumptions about this concept of the “American Dream.” While notions of American prosperity have elements baked into the US Constitution, the idea of an American Dream took a stronghold in the early 1900s. At the time, historian James Truslow Adams had popularized the phrase to denote a vision for this country that would spread a national vision where life would be “better and richer and fuller” for everyone. This was also in the midst of the Great Depression, Jim Crow laws, and growing tensions when millions of immigrants came to this country from several parts of Europe.

Of course, by the time President Franklin Delano Roosevelt brought social programs to America that would remediate some of its woes, American exceptionalism would put a societal cap on aspirations that everyone would receive the largesse of these benefits. Thus, Black people, Native American/indigenous people, and other immigrated groups didn’t make real gains the way their white counterparts did in that time period.

For years, the United States has promoted itself as a land of opportunity for every immigrant. New York City serves as the Elysian gateway to this country’s abundance so long as the immigrant worked hard and aligned itself with America’s Protestant ideals. Over time, however, the American Dream proved to be an American Fantasy at best, a Wraith at worst, particularly for those at the bottom of America’s racial and social caste. Internationally, American policy would help disrupt the economy of several nations that had their own resources for self-determination, thus creating turmoil in places already dealing with the scurge of colonialism, slavery, civil unrest in the form of continual bombing, and the decimation of its indigenous people.

Thus, when migrants come en masse from their respective countries through arduousness and violence, and bring their children with them on that journey, there must be something about the United States that must afford a level of hope that the rest of us don’t see.

Only 36% of Americans believe that the American Dream is true, yet too many pundits still wonder why our children doesn’t seem much faith in their future prospects. Older adults blame TikTok and a lack of work ethic when we should be pointing the finger at growing income inequality and governmental incompetence, intentional or otherwise. Political candidates on various sides of the spectrum use fear of “the other” to win their campaigns (“Crime is everyone!” “NYC is dying!”), but the public seems to rarely examine what happens once they get elected because the problems don’t change.

Our students see this and feel this, even those who can’t read the paper in this country’s dominant language. In listening to stories from classrooms and schools across the country, I’ve noted a pattern of deliberate callousness to students, but particularly those who society has deemed unworthy of educating. Why do so many educators’ professionalism begin where their sense of humanity ends? We collectively need an understanding that, for many of our students, just getting to our doors is gritty enough. We’re not lowering expectations by making that the baseline either. We’re saying that we need to make the conditions in which our students learn easier to learn so their genius can blossom accordingly.

What would systemic empathy, care, and justice look like for our asylum seekers? How might that help us teach enough other about everyone else’s children, too?

What is an American Dream to those who don’t have a bed to sleep in at night? To those who only sleep to stave off hunger? To those who sleep erratically as they work odd jobs with their parents and guardians? What does it mean when people whose ancestors experienced these societal maladies decides to kick down those who’ve come after him and pick the ladder up and away from safety?

If everyone who’s coming here isn’t coming to pursue the American Dream, then what does that say about those that are already here?

Our public schools have a plethora of flaws, but from a policy standpoint, they’re the most receptive public institution we have. Given how many people have left major cities, it behooves policymakers to cater to newly immigrated students who by their attendance have buoyed school budgets. Also, USA has the resources to support all of our public institutions to serve everyone better. Over the 15 years I taught, I had students who jumped shelter to shelter, had several issues with food insecurity, and/or took months to get some form of familial stability in this country. Yet, the students persisted, as we should. This idea of an American Dream isn’t far-fetched, but it usually starts from the people most likely blamed for America’s problems. If they’re seeking asylum, that usually means they wish to build a better home, not a worse one.

It’s time for us to wake up and get to work.

Jose