Undocumented & Parenting

By: Nichole Davari | 2021 Vice President, Board of Directors

As Mother’s Day approaches, it is only natural to reflect on all we are thankful for from our birth mothers and mother figures who have raised us. Parenting in the pandemic has been particularly hard between balancing virtual school, creating fun while sheltering at home and providing for one’s family during times of high unemployment. Mothers in our community armor up and fight for kids’ well-being each day, often sacrificing parts of themselves.

This rings absolutely true for the clients of Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors, who have made the sacrifice of leaving their home countries for safety and a brighter future not only for themselves, but more importantly to them, for their children. However, being an undocumented parent raising a citizen, or a newly Americanized immigrant child, can create relational tensions in the family unit.

Common view is that immigrant immersion into a new environment and culture is led by parents, but as further research develops, we are learning that children are carrying much of the responsibility to transition their family into American life.

As children join the U.S. education system and learn pop culture, they quickly develop fluency and confidence in the English language and become familiar with everyday life in the United States. These skills become an important factor in how families interact with their local communities and institutional networks. 

New York University Professor Yoshikawa Hirokazu argues that while undocumented parents have developed survival strategies that help them cope with the constant threat of deportation, their children are at risk of developmental abnormalities from the stress of being in a mixed-status family. Hirokazu makes the strong argument that pathways to citizenship for parents can not be ignored because the wellbeing of the entire family is at stake.

Family is always complex, and the perfect family is only fantasy. But the original DREAMERS will always be the undocumented parents TNJFON seeks to serve. 

Your gift to Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors supports legal aid for undocumented parents. Donate today.