Many U.S.-born citizens do not have even a basic understanding of our country’s immigration system or the racist exclusions that shape it. There are those who have embraced xenophobic rhetoric and abject falsehoods about “open borders” policies, and others who remain convinced that a singular political party is responsible for ushering in more “humane” immigration policies. Many of us are first introduced to mythologies about our immigration system as part of K-12 education. (Does the great American “melting pot” ring a bell?) How transformative would it have been to receive historically accurate information about one of our most important national issues? 

Some young people don’t have to wonder.

Nick DePascal, an advanced placement (AP)/International Baccalaureate (IB) English teacher at Sandia High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is one of hundreds of educators nationwide committed to creating and teaching a curriculum that, as DePascal said, “allows students to develop a critical capacity to understand migration and the border, to see themselves and their stories in that curriculum, and to leave class with more knowledge and context.” The starting point for many of these conversations is DePascal’s understanding that political borders are “created and maintained through the violence of the State,” a fact with plenty of supporting evidence.  

DePascal recently spoke to Prism’s features editor Tina Vasquez for a wide-ranging conversation about teaching migrant justice in the classroom, how online disinformation can shape students’ understanding of immigration, and why his students are paying more attention to the upcoming presidential election. The discussion is part of a series titled, “Teaching Truths: Educators Speak on Justice and Liberation in the Classroom,” in partnership with the Zinn Education Project and aims to center teacher experiences as they work to bring critical discussions to the classroom. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Tina Vasquez: Talk me through some of the ways you implement discussions about immigration and migrant justice in the classroom. How and when do you decide to teach beyond the textbook? 

Nick DePascal: I have a lot of leeway in the types of texts and conversations that we can have in class. We use a number of open discussions and Socratic Seminars to approach the issues that students are interested in—and movement of peoples (or lack thereof) definitely comes into play. For example, when we discuss “Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi, we often discuss how class allows for people like Marjane to have the opportunity to migrate and leave Iran for the safety of Europe, while others—because of their class status—must stay, fight, suffer, and perhaps die. 

When I teach John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath,” I connect the plight of the migrants during the Dust Bowl—a topic that is often heavily studied in high school history classes—with similar struggles that migrants from other countries now face in their journey to the U.S. When we see the dignity with which the characters face the constant indignities forced upon them by society, and then connect those through more contemporary accounts of migration and immigration, the parallels are uncanny and very easy for students to see. I have used news articles and documentaries to supplement “The Grapes of Wrath” and add a contemporary context to the story so that students can see that those struggles persist—and that just because today’s migrants and immigrants are from different countries doesn’t make their plight any less humane or their dreams any less worthy. 

Because of what I teach, I have a lot of ways to bring these issues into the classroom. It’s easy to find short nonfiction texts and images that connect with the theme of migration and immigration and look at the rhetorical purposes and devices used by their creators in order to convey their message. We can even compare pro-immigration and anti-immigration views through nonfiction texts and offer critiques based on the types of argument, facts, and data used, which helps students see through the fear-based and fact-free arguments of anti-immigrant positions. 

Vasquez: When it comes to issues related to immigration and migrant justice, what do your students appear most curious about, and why do you think they are drawn to these subjects in particular? 

DePascal: I have found that with migrant justice and immigration, as with most social and political issues, students respond to stories. Facts and data can have an impact, but hearing real people’s experiences and stories, whether through fiction, poetry, essays, or documentaries, is always more impactful than any other source of information. When we can understand people’s stories, we can see ourselves and our own experiences in them, and empathy is reinforced.

Vasquez: Given the way that you weave migration into lessons, bringing real-world examples and current events into the classroom, do you receive pushback from parents, the school district, or even students? Are there unique challenges you face trying to teach young people about migrant justice?

DePascal: I have been lucky not to have received pushback. Part of this is likely attributable to the age group I teach. Eleventh and twelfth graders feel more confident in their opinions, and there is likely less discussion with their parents about specific class topics. I try to guide students but let them express their discoveries, learnings, and ideas themselves in class and their writings. I want them to feel a sense of autonomy in the subject matter, rather than me telling them, “This is how it is.” 

My goal is to let the texts and facts speak for themselves and let class be a way to discuss new ideas. Discussion is really used as a testing ground for students to feel safe with new ideas. In that way, when possibly offensive ideas or interpretations come up—not necessarily out of malice, but perhaps just previous learning—there is space to openly discuss where those ideas come from and how we can learn and dispel myths. The space has to be safe and the ground laid in order to have those discussions. Not all classes get to that place, but learning still happens. Honestly, the biggest challenges right now with young people is the online environment and misinformation. Most students are open-minded, but students sometimes repeat things they’ve seen online in class. The key is to break down those myths and show them where they can get valid information. 

Vasquez: When we think of laws that may impact students, we know that anti-immigrant laws—even in surrounding states—can have a lasting impact on undocumented students and mixed-status families. How would you describe the larger political atmosphere in New Mexico right now, what is the broader landscape that your students are navigating, and how can educators better help them understand the world they’re living in?

DePascal: While New Mexico does have its share of very conservative voices that take hardline stances on migration and migrant justice, we are certainly better off politically than neighboring states like Arizona or Texas, which is erecting concertina wire fences on their border with New Mexico. While the larger conversation in parts of the country and the disturbing and disgusting rhetoric around migrants and crime is playing out in the public eye, issues of crime in New Mexico are mainly focused on the unhoused. Locally, this is where we tend to see more of the heartless and conservative rhetoric. However, false narratives about migrants are very accessible on the internet, so no doubt some students express and pass along those myths, while other students may feel scared or threatened for themselves or their families and friends—as plenty of students know someone who was or is undocumented. Even if our state feels progressive, the attitude and negativity that bubbles up and spreads from the right wing no doubt has a psychological and social effect on our students. 

I think that educators, especially those in the humanities, can help students understand and navigate this current whirlpool by contextualizing the ways in which this rhetoric is not new. The hysteria regarding immigrants has long been part of the fabric of this country. For example, we can trace the way attitudes have morphed over the years towards Mexican migrants—and how these attitudes are tied to the economic necessities of business rather than any reality about people and countries. Or, over the last two centuries, we can study the way that interracial and miscegenation laws reflect the panic over different migrants based on race. I focus on this when we read the novel “Kindred” by Octavia Butler. Students often don’t understand the ways in which the construction of race in the United States is tied to immigration and fears over the dilution of the white race. By looking at these laws in the context of the novel, many students are shocked and horrified by the violence and brutality of the laws in place until 1967 and Loving v. Virginia. This can open up conversations into what sorts of laws, conversations, and policies will we look back on in 50 or 100 years and see as blatantly racist. Our job as educators is to help students understand their world through a variety of methods that give them context for our contemporary world while also framing the larger history of our country and its many transgressions.

Vasquez: This is an election year, so of course, we’ve seen some pretty horrendous rhetoric emerge about immigrant communities—especially during the last presidential debate. Does the election make its way into your classroom, does it shift anything about your instruction? Do your students seem to be paying attention to the rhetoric?  

DePascal: My students are all juniors and seniors, and some of them will be able to vote for the first time. They are definitely paying attention to the election—more than I have perhaps ever seen in the past. I would say some of my classes seem more interested in engaging with the issues that are driving this election, especially in regards to Palestine and Israel and the overturning of Roe v. Wade. As far as I am able, I definitely try to choose contemporary and older texts that speak to some of these issues within the scope of the curriculum. For example, when choosing a text to study for rhetorical analysis in my AP class, I used a magazine article written by Cesar Chavez in 1978, reflecting on nonviolence versus violence in the farmworkers’ movement. From there, we will look at former President Obama’s address dedicating a statue to Rosa Parks, a letter from Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” When I began the year, my intent wasn’t necessarily to craft a unit focused on peacemakers and activists, but that is where I felt we needed to go, given where we’re at and what we are seeing across the world. 

In my IB class, my juniors just read gothic short stories by Argentine author Mariana Enriquez, whose stories use the genre of horror to make pointed comments on political and historical issues in Argentina that also connect to my students here in Albuquerque. We have looked at Michelle Alexander’s opinion columns, which included pieces on mass incarceration, Palestine, and the struggles of migrants coming to the U.S. We also recently finished studying infographics as a genre, and we used a body of work from Visualizing Palestine that the students found engaging and powerful. I chose to include the infographics at the beginning of this school year because of current events and because we just read Trevor Noah’s “Born a Crime,” and the effects of apartheid were fresh in my students’ minds.

For me, the best way to address the rhetoric is to teach my students about rhetoric and how it functions, and to try to bring contemporary and relatable texts and issues into the classroom through engaging content that acknowledges their real place in the world. There is nothing I dislike more than when we refer to life beyond high school as the “real world,” as if what students are living on a daily basis isn’t part of and intimately connected to the world. We do a disservice to our students to pretend that the world outside isn’t there and that the happenings outside the classroom walls don’t affect them. As a teacher, I constantly think of Howard Zinn’s quote, “You can’t be neutral on a moving train.” To pretend to be neutral only damages teachers ourselves and demeans our students’ hearts and minds.

Vasquez: If you could give one piece of advice to a younger educator who wants to teach their students about migrant justice in a hostile state, what would you tell them? Where can they look for support and resources? Why is teaching young people about migrant justice a risk worth taking?

DePascal: I’m reticent to give advice because I feel fairly safe in my school, in my district, and in my state, and it would be unfair to give advice that might be wholly unrealistic. But what I would say is: You are not alone. There are more of us, more that care about the past, present, and future being presented truthfully and in a way that honors and respects our students and their lives. I would also say: You don’t have to do everything. You don’t have to do it all. If you already have it in your mind that you are mad at the way politicians and pundits and even the people around you talk about migrants and immigration, and you want to do something about it, then you have already taken the first step to being part of change. Start with conversations, with articles, with images, and get students talking. Let them figure things out. You can also find out what the strictures of your state are with laws, policies, and curriculum, and then see how you can get around them artfully. Avail yourself of the many excellent resources out there just waiting for you to use them. 

Because you are not alone, you don’t have to make everything from scratch! Zinn Education Project has hundreds of resources on a variety of social justice topics that are classroom-tested and teacher-approved. They have beautifully run monthly online classes and conversations where you can just bask in the brilliance of the scholars they bring in and the sheer number of educators participating. Start small and look for the cracks where the light gets in, and then expand those cracks. Because if that young educator already wants to teach truth and teach migrant justice, then they know why it’s worth the risk. It’s worth it because teaching truth is one of the ways we can make school safe for students who have historically not seen themselves in the curriculum and have been hurt by schooling. It’s a risk worth taking because schools, districts, and states generally have no interest in real, deep, systemic change. That only comes from below—and teachers and students are often the ones most involved in social change. So, it’s worth the risk because we can’t close our eyes and fail the next generation. We have to stand up with them to make change, and we have to give them an honest and truthful education to serve as a solid foundation for the future.

“Teaching truths: Educators speak on justice and liberation in the classroom” will be published through mid-October, and you will be able to find each piece here. Learn more about the Zinn Education Project here.