YUMA, Ariz. (NewsNation) — As Title 42 comes to an end, officials in the border city of Yuma say classrooms are already full.
Thousands of migrant children will accompany their families into America — seeking both a better life and a higher education. But some local residents are concerned the education infrastructure doesn’t have the resources to accommodate the added potential students.
Tom Horne, Arizona state superintendent of public instruction, says migrant students are being shuttled to some of the largest districts in the state, causing issues in overburdened classrooms that were already facing teacher shortages.
Horne has required non-native speakers to enter English immersion programs, insisting that Spanish-speaking students sit in on classes beside American students. His ultimate hope, however, is that the Biden administration spreads migrant families across the U.S. and not keep families solely in the border states.
Susanna Thaxton, who has a daughter in the second grade, suggests immigrant children attend mandatory after school and summer school programs to get the one-on-one help they need.
“Some students do need extra help, and it doesn’t take away from the children that are already here,” she said.
Immigration and education experts told NewsNation’s Alex Caprariello that equitable solutions are needed immediately because they believe surges are going to happen with these migrant families across the U.S.-Mexico border.
