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.” The post Navigating Work, Family, and Immigration Uncertainty appeared first on American Immigration Council. […]

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.” The post A Life of Care in the Shadows appeared first on American Immigration Council. […]

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.”  The post Preschool for All—But Not Enough Teachers appeared first on American Immigration Council. […]

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.”  The post A Life Rebuilt Through Caregiving in Bentonville, Arkansas  appeared first on American Immigration Council. […]

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.” The post Creating Pathways for Families Beyond Early Childhood appeared first on American Immigration Council. […]