Education
The education of Mexican migrant workers is at low levels mostly because many of them entered this country with low levels of education and limited knowledge of the English language. The majority of migrant workers come from very poor segments of Mexican society. In the U.S., those that are undocumented are not qualified for financial or any other form of aid, while low wages are not enough for paying tuition. The children of migrant workers are more likely than their parents to achieve upward mobility assuming that they get the appropriate education. In the past, migrant workers' children received no support in the schools. Most were put in remedial or ESL classes within the schools.
The mobility of workers who were often on the move and after new job opportunities because these jobs were seasonal and temporary and didn’t allow for children to remain regularly enrolled in schools and finish their education. Frequent moves created inconsistencies and gaps in children’s learning and socializing. An additional reason for irregular school attendance is that many of the migrant worker’s children worked alongside their parents or helped in other ways to increase family’s productivity. (Olsen & Jaramillo 1999, p. 23).
According to Healey, for the majority of the twentieth century, Mexican Americans in the South were excluded by law from the institutions available to the dominant group (2014). This segregation included education, and Mexican American children were forced to attend substandard schools. Anti-immigration sentiments and xenophobia of the dominant group in the past often called for and attempted to pass various laws to forbid and deny social and educational services to the children of undocumented migrant workers.
The mobility of workers who were often on the move and after new job opportunities because these jobs were seasonal and temporary and didn’t allow for children to remain regularly enrolled in schools and finish their education. Frequent moves created inconsistencies and gaps in children’s learning and socializing. An additional reason for irregular school attendance is that many of the migrant worker’s children worked alongside their parents or helped in other ways to increase family’s productivity. (Olsen & Jaramillo 1999, p. 23).
According to Healey, for the majority of the twentieth century, Mexican Americans in the South were excluded by law from the institutions available to the dominant group (2014). This segregation included education, and Mexican American children were forced to attend substandard schools. Anti-immigration sentiments and xenophobia of the dominant group in the past often called for and attempted to pass various laws to forbid and deny social and educational services to the children of undocumented migrant workers.