Stories
Fear and Empty Classrooms: The Human Cost of Immigration Crackdowns
Since the Trump administration began arresting immigrants off the street, Philadelphia childcare provider Damaris Alvarado-Rodriguez has had to close one classroom and lay off five teachers, all U.S. citizens. Parents in her Hispanic community, many with valid immigration status, “went into hiding,” she said. “There were so many policies at once that they didn’t know how they would be affected.” Damaris’ daycare center provides donated food, infant formula, diapers, clothes, and more. She is worried about the absent children. “We know that most of the children are food-deprived,” she said. “I pray that they’re OK.” Read More
Caring for Children from Kabul to Houston
Safia is among the 50,500 Afghan refugees admitted to the United States via the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV), a program created by Congress to help Afghans who worked for the U.S. government abroad. A college-educated math teacher who is not yet licensed to teach in the United States, Safia applied for a childcare training and licensing class at ECDC – Houston Multicultural Center. “In order to speed up this self-sufficiency goal, it takes everyone in the household working,” said Earlene Leverett, the program’s former manager. Additionally, “Employers are finally realizing the impact that childcare has on the economy. Businesses have jobs, they need employees to fill those jobs, those employees need childcare.” Read More
From Babysitter to Business Owner: A Journey of Resilience and Care
Muna is one of many Somalis admitted to the United States with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) since the country collapsed in 1991 into civil war, causing the deaths of as many as 1 million people. She landed in San Diego in 1999, her 6-month-old baby in tow, knowing no one, knocking on doors to ask if anyone needed a babysitter. For the next four years, she lived and worked in 20 different houses as a nanny and housekeeper. Sometimes she slept on the floor. When she was ready to start her own business, in 2018, she turned to childcare. Now her business is thriving. “It’s a lot of kids to run,” she said, laughing. “But it’s worth it.” Read More
Supporting Working Families Through Flexible, Affordable Childcare
KidsPark strives to support low- and middle-income parents, for whom standard childcare can be prohibitively expensive—potentially pushing them out of the workforce for years. And, from the beginning, immigrants have been vital. “We’ve always relied in the childcare industry on people who have come here from another country, or are first- or second-generation,” said Heather Alanis, who owns the center with her sister, Beth Christie. “We have, over the years, hired cousins and sisters because we believe they work so well together, and all of them have come from immigrant families,” said Beth. Read More
Navigating Work, Family, and Immigration Uncertainty
The commute from home to school takes 50 minutes, and from school to work takes 30 minutes. Jen is in the office until at least 5:30 p.m. School lets out at 2:30 p.m. Without help, “The mornings would be challenging, but the afternoons would make it impossible,” Jen said. The only practical way she can work? Hire a nanny or an au pair, meaning, inevitably, an immigrant provider. “It’s the pool of candidates who are available,” she said. Which means that her job, too, is beholden to the whims of federal immigration policy. “We are in a small bit of terror right now,” said Jen. “As things ratchet up, there’s always a little voice in my head, ‘Please, please don’t revoke visas.’ If she goes, then I would have to quit my job.” Read More
A Life of Care in the Shadows
Rosa has always been there for her American kids and their families, families that needed two incomes and depended on immigrant caregivers like her so they could work. “I love children,” she said. She always paid income taxes, does not drink, does not use drugs, and has never been in any trouble. But now, tired of living in fear, she plans to self-deport. Since the Trump administration started targeting immigrants, she is terrified, every day, of being grabbed off the street and “treated like an animal,” she said. “People don’t know what we’re going through.” Read More
Preschool for All—But Not Enough Teachers
Washington, D.C., offers free preschool for every 3- and 4-year-old, regardless of family income, through the Pre-K Enhancement and Expansion Program (PKEEP). It’s seen as a success: children are set up to succeed, and parents can rejoin the workforce. But what happens when the federal government undercuts providers’ ability to find and keep qualified workers—revoking work authorizations, limiting visas, and deporting immigrants en masse? “It’s created a lot of anxiety … to make sure we can bring in teachers at the last minute,” said Raúl Echevarría, the co-founder, president and CEO of CommuniKids, a language immersion preschool and after-school care program that depends on immigrant teachers. “Children are very sensitive to who their teachers are. ...They have lost their teacher.” Read More
A Life Rebuilt Through Caregiving in Bentonville, Arkansas
Five years after Laura agreed to relocate from Mexico to the United States, where her husband’s family worked as Christian missionaries, her husband was killed in an accident, leaving her with two children. “I started doing any kind of job I could do because I needed to support myself,” she said. Unauthorized to work in the United States, Laura did what so many immigrant women in her situation do: she worked as a babysitter and nanny. “Every single day I show up.” When a family asked if she knew anyone who cleaned houses, she said, “I know no one, but I can do it.” Read More
Creating Pathways for Families Beyond Early Childhood
Childcare doesn’t end when the kids turn 12 or 13. It just evolves. Combine increasingly unwalkable neighborhoods, smaller local family networks, and the relentless extracurricular demands of college admissions, and many American parents end up looking more like chauffeurs. Lisa is an industrial designer specializing in jewelry and housewares. To help manage the demands of parenting and work, her family hired an au pair. “We have a whole system that is quite broken, I’d say. But in trying to work within it, having household help is quite necessary.” Read More
Immigrant Nannies Make Work Possible for a New York Family
Liz, a fourth-generation New Yorker, found her family’s first nanny through a neighborhood parent group, and their second through a nanny co-operative. Both were immigrants, simply because, as Liz put it, “the bulk of nannies who are working in Brooklyn are immigrants.” Liz works in child welfare and philanthropy, and her husband is a medical researcher. “I want to be working,” Liz said. “If I didn’t have somebody who I thought was safe and caring and aligned with my kids every day then I wouldn’t be working.” Read More
All gifts are matched dollar for dollar
No one should face the immigration system alone
