Dreams and Shadows

Dr. Emma Violand-Sanchez has dedicated her life to supporting immigrant and refugee students in the American public education system. Emma immigrated from Bolivia to America without her parents in 1961 as a senior in high school, knowing little English. Her memoir Dreams and Shadows: An Immigrant’s Journey is a Virginia story, from the desk of a 16-year-old Emma during the height of desegregation and an adult woman who often had to justify her presence in schools where she was supporting immigrants and refugees.

Public libraries have a lot to offer. Suzanne Grossman says that public libraries can be doorways into American culture for people who have just immigrated to the U.S.

Europe has welcomed an unprecedented amount of immigrants over the past decade. Georg Menz says that many people migrating from places that are culturally unlike Europe. As immigration debates intensify, Georg says that one approach to ensuring better outcomes for hopeful migrants is to send them to countries that are more culturally similar to their home countries.

For all of our differences, Americans do have a sense of what it is to be an American. And an even greater sense of what it is to not be an American. Jennifer Byrne says that there are three key factors that impact how Americans think about immigration.