Children of undocumented immigrants may struggle more to achieve academic success than children of legalized immigrants, according to a recent study about the effects of legalization on education — perhaps the hottest topic concerning the U.S. educational system in the last decade. Researchers at the University of California-Irvine conducted a survey in the Los Angeles area to uncover links between educational success of various immigrant populations and their respective statuses of residency and naturalization. Consequently, they discovered academic deficiencies among children of undocumented Mexican immigrants compared to children of legalized counterparts. Particularly, they found that children of undocumented immigrants averaged 11 years of education, compared with nearly 13 years for children of legal immigrants. They also found evidence that suggests paths to legalization improve a student’s performance in the classroom. The results supply evidence … Read entire article »