Border Patrol, Immigration, and Policies

Border Patrol, Immigration,

and Related Topics

Entry into any country that is not one's own native country involves policies and restrictions. The book Refugee by Alan Gratz features three different young adults with three individual expeditions. Each child has to flee from their homeland to find a safer, more secure residence. The three adolescents in this novel are faced with challenges. One major challenge they face is the dismissal and mishandling from other countries denying them access. While reading about the shame and embarrassment from being denied asylum, I wondered about the laws surrounding handling refugees. The book concentrates on seeking refuge in the United States, Cuba, and Europe. The sources I provided below will give you a clearer understanding of laws involving refugees.

This source shows the United States imposed new security vetting procedures on refugees before they can be admitted into the country.
This source provides information about seeking asylum in Europe and how it works. The source also provides some information about the process refugees go through before seeking refuge.
This is an article about Cubans seeking refuge in America. The article discusses establishing a program for refugees and helping them with getting welfare and financial assistance.
This site provides current refugee movements and discusses how human rights work.

The UN was founded as a result of the Second World War. After many of the heinous, dehumanizing acts of the war, the UN was ultimately was created to help manage international peace and security. For students to understand human rights, they need to understand what the UN is and the roles that it has played over time.

Resources for Teachers:

In this fact sheet, I provide background information regarding the UN.
This is the official website of the UN. This is probably the most reliable and most helpful source for obtaining accurate information on the UN.
This source outlines the goals and main duties of the UN. However, the source also points out some of the UN’s weaknesses.
This source is a very detailed video that outlines the goals and main duties of the UN. This video is probably best for students in elementary or middle school. It may seem babyish for high school students.
This source is episode two or part two of the above video. It outlines the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the role of the UN in the world.
This is another fairly brief video that defines what the UN is and what its purpose is. This video would be a great intro video for middle school students.

ADVICE FOR TEACHERS

Censorship and Red-Flagging: by Jalin Murphey

What is “Censorship” and “Red-Flagging?”

Censorship and Red-Flagging, in this sense, go hand in hand. Think of censorship as a suppression or oppression of sorts in regard to an aspect of a book that is deemed inappropriate, obscene, unacceptable, etc.

Meanwhile, to “red-flag” something is to label it as a danger, a threat, or a potential problem. These are the terms associated with book-banning and prohibiting the teaching, instruction, and reading of certain books and novels.

This video clip visually and orally explains this nuance in detail.

Reasons Why Refugee May be Banned/Censored

From the depiction of the Jewish experience during Adolf Hitler’s deathly and discriminatory reign to the perspectives of one family fleeing from Fidel Castro and another leaving behind Syria, Refugee touches on many sensitive, controversial topics that some may find worthy of censorship/red-flagging.

Censorship and red-flagging could be due to the violence and negativity in realty displayed in the novel. The concern for age appropriateness, racial implications, and political bias could also play a vital role in reasons for the novel’s censorship/red-flagging.

Resources for Teachers

The American Library Association, or ALA, is equipped with all things concerning banned and challenged books. From lists enclosing the most challenged books to dozens of free downloads and products, this website is stocked with resources available for teachers, administrators, librarians, etc., to challenged banned books.

The ALA offers these tools :

How to Respond to Challenges and Concerns about Library Resources
Formal Written Request for Reconsideration
Guidelines for Reconsideration Committees
Conducting a Challenging Hearing
Working with the Media
Answer Questions about Youth and Access to Library Resources.

The ALA also hosts Banned Books Week during the last week of September. The books included in Banned Books Week are commonly removed or restricted books that ALA resists and uses to exemplify the harms of censorship/red-flagging books.

The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) offers the support and encouragement of challenging banned/red-flagged books. Their position statement illustrated the dangers of censorship while equipping the readers with knowledge of how to fight against it and the importance of doing so.

Laws Concerning Refugees: By Yasmine Butts

United Nations -Overview and Roles:

By Briana Holmes

The wet foot, dry foot policy was a 1995 revision to the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966. Essentially, anyone who emigrated from Cuba and entered the United States would be allowed to pursue residency a year later. Before 1995, the US government allowed all Cubans who reached US territorial waters to remain in the US. With this new policy came the terms “Wet foot, dry foot” which means a Cuban caught on the water between the two nations (“wet feet”) would be sent back to Cuba. A Cuban who makes it to shore (“dry feet”) gets a chance to remain in the United States, and later would qualify for “legal permanent resident” status. In January of 2017, the Obama administration announced the immediate end of the policy.

Immigration Teaching Activity:

I would use this activity as a “warm up” focused on photo analysis. Through the worksheet students are given pictures of immigrants that the students analyze by summarizing what they see in the picture.

This is a very brief video that outlines what the UN is and what is its main purpose. Most of the information from this video can be found on the official UN website. This video would serve as a great intro video before students begin reading the novel.

Border Patrol (including wet foot/dry foot):

By Sydney Garner

This video describes the end of “wet foot, dry foot” policy.

Border Patrol/Control: By Rus Beverly

Both in local and global news, the idea of controlling our borders and restricting access to our nation is prevalent. For students who have never had to face the reality of a closed border or, in many cases, any border other than their state’s lines on the map, it is difficult to grasp why the protagonists of Refugee face such hardship trying to find safety. For this reason, we need to explore the realities of national lines with our students to ensure they grasp the struggles faced by real people in the modern world.

In order to understand both sides of the border control issue, it is important to hear both sides of the argument. This resource provides a brief overview of the U.S. Government’s stance on the importance of regulating national borders.

Both of the videos (at left) work together to show the other side of the argument.

The first video shows a positive light of border control as well as dealing with several issues students will see in Refugee.

The second video helps bring the issue closer to home by showing the consequences of the United States interfering with other countries immigration policies.