For this assignment, I thought it would be important to research the new wave of Honduran immigrants coming to America by way of Mexico and the complexity of migration, culture and education. The process of migration is incredibly complex and in many respects, traumatizing for those that have taken the journey. For Honduran immigrants, there are issues of brutality and harsh living conditions endured in ones home country and deprivation of basic resources and human rights while crossing into unsafe countries. In many instances, there is already trauma before one arrives in the US.
Once here, Honduran Americans must often contend with language and economic barriers; for the Garifuna people of African descent, issues of race, language and cultural identity often are an added paradigm. To be deliberate in developing a safe, well functioning classroom, educators must consider who their students are and what experiences they’ve had that would perhaps have an impact on how they learn. No matter the subject content being taught, teachers should develop a level of sensitivity regarding a students experiences, culture and social situation.
In many ways, teaching ESL to students of a second language isn’t solely about language; it’s also about teaching students about their agency in this society. For immigrants students, and often times undocumented immigrant students, it is important that we allow our students to develop community and collective agency as an under represented group. History “The initial wave of Hondurans came to this country in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries during the turmoil of independence from Spain and the founding of the republic of Honduras”.
From that period, as political conflicts and periods of instability occurred, small waves of Honduran immigrants would make their way to the United States, often times not exceeding more than a few thousand people. After the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, the influx of Honduran immigrants coming to the states has rapidly increased every year. This act gave many illegal immigrants the hope that they would have the chance to achieve American citizenship. I 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act coincided with massive political unrest in Central America.
Civil wars, political and economic instability along with a greater open door policy in the 1980’s certainly encouraged a great level of migration from Central American countries, like Honduras. The From the start of Honduran migration to the United States, many worked as migrant farm laborer or domestic workers. While there is an increase of professional Hondurans in the US, a great deal still work in low wage jobs. It’s also difficult to measure the growth and community complexities of the Honduran population in the US as many of them are undocumented residents.
Hondurans typically follow the immigration patterns of other marginalized Hispanic groups; they first settled in the largest cities, in which they found support networks in the large Honduran American communities already present. Cities provide the most accessible market for jobs requiring the kind of basic labor skills most Hondurans possess upon arrival. Of those who have settled into a particular area, the largest numbers are found in New York City, Los Angeles, and Miami. Hondurans immigrants make up the eight largest Hispanic group in the United States and the 3rd largest Central American group to have migrated.
Specific to New York City, Hondurans have become one of the fastest growing populations in New York. Yet, although approximately 80 000 Hondurans try to reach the US annually, only 25 per cent succeed. In order to get to the United States they must endure a treacherous path through Guatemala and Mexico Hondurans have a deep, and at times, tumultuous political past consumed with political instability, corruption, natural devastation and regional conflicts, just to name a few. While Honduras has an interesting history, for the sake of practicality and reference, I think it’s important to examine why Hondurans are migrating currently.
According to Villeda and Zelaya in the article ‘Why are Honduran Children Leaving’, many of the 800,000 habitants of the country have grown displeased with the current conditions. “In Honduras this can be attributed to an attack on the education system, a shockingly poor healthcare system, poor incentives, violence created by drug cartels that the government cannot control, low wages in export processing zone industries, and a rate of inflation that leaves people not being able to afford quality food and goods”
Waves of people are enduring unsafe conditions with the hopes that they’ll make it through Mexico and across it’s borders to America. However, the difficulty for many of these Central American immigrants in the unsettling violence that they’re facing along the journey. Reports of rape, murder and starvation are more than common that what many can believe. Often times, children began the journey by themselves or have forced to complete the journey without their parents are loved one, as a consequence of the aforementioned acts of poverty and desperation.
Many of these children face another hurdle of obstacles once they land in the country, detention and deportation await many while other will toil tirelessly, often undocumented to contribute the network system of financial support for their families. “Honduras, in particular, has become one of the poorest countries in the global south, with more than half of its population living in poverty (United Nations Human Development Report, 2003). Unemployment in Honduras is high, wages are low and social programs are almost nonexistent.
Hurricane Mitch in 1998 caused major damage to an already weak economy and destroyed many fruit fields, which resulted in many multinational fruit companies leaving (Schmalzbauer, 2004). According to the Honduran newspaper Tiempo (7/8/04), 4. 5 million of the total 7 million inhabitants do not earn enough to cover their basic necessities. In addition, more than 207 000 young people are neither working nor studying, and one in every five persons over 15 years of age does not know how to read or write (Tiempo, 9/8/04). ” t has been easier for Honduran American girls to stay in school than for Honduran American boys.
Especially in working-class families, there is tremendous pressure for boys, once they turn 12 or 14, to start working full time. This pressure is not as strong on the girls. As a result, statistics show Honduran American women to have more years of school than Honduran American men, with 10. 9 percent of Honduran American women 25 years and older having a bachelor’s degree, while the number drops to 6. 4 percent for both women and men are in the same age category. Read more: http://www. everyculture. com/multi/Ha-La/ Honduran-Americans.
When considering Honduran students in ESL classrooms, I believe that it’s imperative to understand the dynamic of the Honduran American community in the US and how intersectional our students experiences may be. It is important to note that: Roughly eight-in-ten immigrants from Honduras (78%) arrived in the U. S. in 1990 or later. About two-in-ten Honduran immigrants (22%) are U. S. citizens. 53% of Hondurans report speaking English less than very well Hondurans have lower levels of education than the Hispanic population overall and the U. S. population overall
The share of Hondurans who live in poverty, 33%, is higher than the rate for the general U. S. population (16%) and the rate for Hispanics overall (26%). These figures suggest that a vast majority of Honduran students will come from marginalized circumstances. Understanding intersectionality, it is understood that while not Honduran students will have these circumstances, some just may. Societal issues in Honduras in recent years has been compounded by a lack of school funding, gang violence within schools and extended teacher strikes. Students may struggle with academic task as well as learning a new language skill.
