By Lauren del ValleNEWS EDITOR
As a result of President Obama’s federal mandate, a recent influx of undocumented, unaccompanied minors on Long Island has put unprecedented pressure on school districts as close in proximity as the Hempstead Union Free School District.
Educators, librarians and advocates discussed constructive remedies for the controversy at the day-long summit hosted by Hofstra’s Center for Civic Engagement and the Long Island Wins organization, a nonprofit communication organization, that advocates the rights of immigrants and works towards civic change specifically on Long Island.
The “Long Island at a Turning Point – It’s Everyone’s Opportunity” summit held on Wednesday Feb. 26, featured keynote speaker Michael Dowling, CEO of North Shore-LIJ Health System, followed by breakout sessions on various facets of the immigration debate and a closing panel discussion.
Breakout sessions followed the keynote breakfast featuring immigration in relation to healthcare, media, education, immigration law, community organization, economy and governance. More than 400 participants attended this portion of the day as well as the closing panel, according to D’Innocenzo.
Dowling spoke to 130 participants at the invitation-only breakfast. An Irish-American immigrant himself, he spoke about his own identification with the struggles of those who try to assimilate on Long Island in today’s society. He also addressed the importance of changing uninformed public opinion in order to ease anti-immigrant tensions.
“Changing people’s perceptions is very difficult,” said Dowling. “I’m a big believer that continuous education is the one best way to do it… The meeting that has been going on today is a very positive development. Locally, you have people who believe that immigrants are taking jobs from Americans, and there is no evidence of that… People don’t change their minds quickly.’”
Michael D’Innocenzo, professor of history and a founding member of the Center for Civic Engagement at Hofstra served as co-chair with Long Island Wins Executive Director and Hofstra alumna Maryann Sinclair Slutsky.
While preparations for the summit began last May, the discussion about education was especially relevant in the wake of the recent court decision in Texas regarding Obama’s federal mandate.
Judge Andrew Hanen enjoined the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). These actions, that temporarily defer the deportation of children and parents, are pending appeal.
Lucinda Hurley, Executive Director of Nassau Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), and Jason Starr, Nassau County Chapter Director for the New York Civil Liberties Union, guided the roundtable discussion that included approximately 50 teachers, librarians and education advocates.
The panel came to a consensus, stating that the lack of resources for districts as well as the need to educate parents of immigrant children and the native-born population are the overarching issues.
There was also extensive discussion regarding the need for mental health services for immigrant students affected by the trauma of leaving their home country and risking their lives in unstable living environments in order to seek opportunities in America.
“The changing face of Long Island is something that schools are well aware of,” said Hurley.
“The advocates and the educators are not necessarily head-to-head. It’s really about resources for systems and opportunities to create the best pathway for the young person that’s in front of us. My hope for this was to get ideas that will guide the work of this group,” she added.
A Brentwood social worker pointed out that despite the $137 billion New York state 2014-2015 budget allotted for universal pre-kindergarten, such services have yet to spread to Long Island. On the older end of the education spectrum, participants spoke about the necessity of the DREAM Act.
In the summit’s closing panel discussion, the Director of the Office for New Americans, Jorge Montalvo, spoke hopefully about passing legislation that would extend a state tuition program to help the undocumented bridge the affordability gap to go to college.
“That is our top priority this year… We will pass the New York State DREAM Act, it is our time,” said Montalvo.
While Starr acknowledged that sweeping reform is an unrealistic goal at least for the time being, small tangible plans were made by the conclusion of the breakout session.
The group’s main deliberation was an overall sense of moving forward. In addition, they plan to work towards forgoing a network that utilizes the largely untapped services provided by local libraries.
The third action step involved the development of a database documenting the best practices of districts in the past so education administrators can evaluate and replicate past successes.
“We work in such silos sometimes,” said Starr. “You had a cross-section of people that don’t all really get to get together in the place… That dialogue doesn’t happen as much as you think it would or it should.”
While well-attended by community members, Hofstra students were an underwhelming minority of participants at the summit. Victoria Staddle, a senior dance major who opted to attend the education session, found the conversation to be a learning experience.
“I found the breakout session on education to be especially insightful as I’m looking to go into a career in nonprofit arts education and want to be aware of the opportunities and challenges of recent immigrants in the public school system. I think students from a variety of backgrounds would have found this to be valuable as it is such a timely discussion considering the President’s recent executive action and the diverse community Hofstra is located within.”
Jason Starr spoke in an interview to the importance of real-life application of university studies, noting the lack of collegiate faces among the crowd.
“It’s figuring out how you want to use that education in a contemporary context,” said Starr. “It’s when you have to take that degree and everything you learned here and go out there and do something in the world. I think it’s important for students to come to things like this because this is education in action. This gives you a good sense of what people who are working in the field are tackling and how they’re utilizing their experiences and training to address this issue.”
In closing the summit, panelist and Executive Director of the American Immigration Council Ben Johnson discussed the legislative and legal action he’s seen in Washington D.C. He narrowed his hopeful advisement to the importance of dedication to the movement.
“The most important word in the phrase ‘executive action’ is ‘action,’” said Johnson. “The legal debate is about the ‘executive’... We need to talk about action that has happened on an issue that has been clamoring for action for the 20 years that I’ve been in Washington D.C. This is the most significant forward momentum on immigration in a long long long time.”