Immigrants Children

It had all the trappings of a traditional celebration for new citizens: flag-waving, the Pledge of Allegiance and teary-eyed relatives. But Tuesday's event at Veterans' Park in Redondo Beach was special. Most of its honored guests were under 3 feet tall and less than 5 years old. They were among the estimated 75,000 foreign-born children adopted by U.S. parents who became American citizens Tuesday as the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 went into effect.

In a Glendale public school classroom, the immigrant's daughter uses no English as she conjugates verbs and writes sentences about cats. More than a decade after California voters eliminated most bilingual programs, first-grader Sofia Checchi is taught in Italian nearly all day — as she and her 20 classmates at Franklin Elementary School have been since kindergarten. Yet in just a year, Sofia has jumped a grade level in reading English. In the view of her mother — an Italian immigrant — Sofia's achievement validates a growing body of research indicating that learning to read in students' primary languages helps them become more fluent in English.

In a Glendale public school classroom, the immigrant's daughter uses no English as she conjugates verbs and writes sentences about cats. More than a decade after California voters eliminated most bilingual programs, first-grader Sofia Checchi is taught in Italian nearly all day — as she and her 20 classmates at Franklin Elementary School have been since kindergarten. Yet in just a year, Sofia has jumped a grade level in reading English. In the view of her mother — an Italian immigrant — Sofia's achievement validates a growing body of research indicating that learning to read in students' primary languages helps them become more fluent in English.

In a stretch of desert just north of the U.S.-Mexico border, men and women in khakis and the colors of the American flag recently gathered at a border watch post they call Camp Vigilance and discussed their next offensive in the nation's immigration wars. The target: Illegal immigrants and their U.S.-born children who receive public benefits.

Re "These Kids Merit a Tuition Break," Voices, April 7: The "one reason" that Olga is not counted as a resident of California is a major one: She is not a legal resident of the U.S. The benefits of California taxpayer-subsidized education (and other services) should go to those who lawfully reside in the state. If California opens "resident" status to undocumented immigrants, why not also let high-achieving children in Arizona, Oregon and Nevada--who would love to be Californians--be considered residents for the purposes of attending the UC system.

Immigration reform seems to have put me in the uncomfortable position of confessor-figure for two guys about as far apart as two people can be--my congressman and my next-door neighbor, Rudy. My congressman, Elton Gallegly, got to use the Commentary page (May 14) of The Times to defend his proposal to kick illegal immigrant children out of public schools--along the way, defending himself against those who smell more than a whiff of bigotry in all this high-minded Anglo hysteria. The defense of my neighbor Rudy was a more private thing, coming late at night when we were both pulling into our driveways after work.

A five-year study of the educational progress of 2,400 children of immigrants in San Diego has found that they quickly embrace English over their parents' native tongues--contrary to the fears of anti-immigration groups. The study--part of the largest long-range survey of immigrants' children in the United States--also found that these youths had better grades and lower dropout rates than fellow public school students whose parents were born in the United States.

As in years past, immigrant children new to the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District will be tested on their proficiency in English in the opening weeks of school. But this year, school officials said, the process should be a lot easier. Last week, the district opened its first language assessment center, designed solely for testing children whose primary language is something other than English.

As the debate unfolds in the coming months over the fate of bilingual education in California, here are some of the terms and programs that will be discussed: FEDERAL vs. STATE LAW: The U.S. Supreme Court has established the general principle that students who are not fluent in English are entitled to educational opportunity equal to that of native English-speakers--including instruction in their native language, if necessary.

In a stretch of desert just north of the U.S.-Mexico border, men and women in khakis and the colors of the American flag recently gathered at a border watch post they call Camp Vigilance and discussed their next offensive in the nation's immigration wars. The target: Illegal immigrants and their U.S.-born children who receive public benefits.

Today they would learn about drawing, Russian Orthodox saints and God. The 7-year-olds sat straight at their desks, sun pouring through lace curtains and cherry trees blooming in the fields beyond. The teacher set a birch branch before the children and told them it was fragile and unique, just like their souls. "If you think you can't draw properly, who will help you?" she asked. "God will help us," a boy called out. "Yes, God will guide your hand, so be confident, have faith."

Manuel Pereda, 57, spent years studying English during the day and working as a dishwasher at night. His wife, Rosa, 54, practiced common phrases and constantly looked up words in an Spanish-English dictionary. The more English the couple learned, they assumed, the better jobs they could get and the more money they could send home to their families in Mexico.

Maria Flores trekked with her four children across mountains into the United States, planning to earn some quick money and go back home to Mexico City. Seven years later, she is still here. Her fifth child, Brandon Rodriguez, was born in the U.S., making him a citizen. So for Flores, the question of whether Congress loosens or strengthens immigration laws, whether it puts undocumented workers on a path to citizenship or deportation, is not so much political as deeply personal.

The lessons don't come easily in Anthony Garces-Foley's classroom at Elm Street School -- not for the students or the teacher. Last week, a simple session on adverbs had Garces-Foley literally running circles around his south Oxnard classroom, urging students to describe his actions. And it had the fifth- and sixth-grade students -- sons and daughters of recent immigrants -- scrambling for their Spanish-to-English dictionaries to find the right words to complete the assignment.

Bala Rajasekharuni's "Green Card Fever" is a clumsy yet impassioned first film that casts a provocative light on the baffling maze facing illegal immigrants in the U.S. The timeliness of this subject, a lively cast and an unfamiliar setting -- Columbus, Ohio -- help offset heavy-handed melodramatics and plotting.

"ABCD" is an acronym for American-Born Confused Dashi (Indian), but there's nothing confused about this assured and fully realized first film by Krutin Patel, who was born in India in 1966 and emigrated to the U.S. with his parents at age 8. The generation gap that opens between immigrant parents and their children, quickly caught up in American culture and values, has been explored many times, including by Indian American filmmakers, but "ABCD" possesses exceptional depth and perception.

Re "These Kids Merit a Tuition Break," Voices, April 7: The "one reason" that Olga is not counted as a resident of California is a major one: She is not a legal resident of the U.S. The benefits of California taxpayer-subsidized education (and other services) should go to those who lawfully reside in the state. If California opens "resident" status to undocumented immigrants, why not also let high-achieving children in Arizona, Oregon and Nevada--who would love to be Californians--be considered residents for the purposes of attending the UC system.