Advocacy

Check this page regularly for alerts about legislation that will affect you and your ESL and bilingual students. Alerts will first be sent to the e-mail list and then linked to this page. Below are links for contacting your legislators.

Resources: The Rights of Our Immigrant Students and Their Families

New Jersey Department of Education

Make the Road NJ

• WHAT TO DO IN AN IMMIGRATION ENCOUNTER 
• QUE HACER EN CASO DE UN ENCUENTRO CON INMIGRACION
• Know Your Rights Card – Spanish – English
• PROTECTING IMMIGRANT STUDENTS & FAMILIES PowerPoint

 

National Newcomer Network – This new KYR iPhone app is available in 16 languages, primarily Asian languages and Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Russian. It can read your rights out loud to an ICE or law enforcement agent and send a message to an emergency contact. It has other resources, such as the ability to look up a consulate and a sample family preparedness plan. Please share it widely. It will be ready for Android phones soon.

NEA’s Comprehensive Immigration Guide

NEA’s Safe Zone School Districts

Rutgers Law School – EMERGENCY PLANNING IN CASE OF THE DETENTION OR DEPORTATION OF PARENTSIMMIGRANT LEGAL RESOURCE CENTER

• Red Cards
• Family Preparedness Plan
• Step by Step Family Preparedness Plan
• Immigration Preparedness Toolkit

 

Department of Education – Dear Colleague Letter – Resources for Ensuring Equal Access to Education for Immigrant Students (January 2025)

Education for All Campaign

National Immigration Law Center Plyler and Data Collection 

ACLU – Know Your Rights – Immigrants’ Rights

AFT (American Federation of Teachers)

• Know Your Rights for Immigrant Students – English – Spanish
• Protecting our Students Toolkit – English – Spanish
• 15 Things Educators Can Do to Support Immigrant Youth & Families – English – Spanish
• Rights for Immigrant Students English / Spanish

 

New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice – Know Your Rights information and resources

We Have Rights – Resources and videos in 7 languages about safely defending your rights

Education Information

• NJ Consortium for Immigrant Children (NJCIC)
• From Rutgers: Immigrants Rights Toolkit for NJ Manual – Para los Derechos de Immigrantes en NJ
• Fact Sheets: Protecting Access to Education for Unaccompanied Children and Migratory Children
• Legal Education and National Outreach: Protecting the Rights of Undocumented Students

NJTESOL/NJBE Statements and Testimony

• NJTESOL/NJBE Restorative Justice Statement
• English Learners in NJ Exposing Inequities and Expanding Opportunities in the Wake of the Pandemic – Nov. 2021 Executive Summaries and Press Releases in Six Languages
• Statement on Postponing ACCESS for ELLs testing
• Statement Against Bigotry, Harassment, and Bullying
• Students’ Mental Health Bills
• Position Statement on A-5126 Testing for Learning Loss
• Comments on the proposed changes to the Special Education Code
• Comments on the Adult Education Code
• Testimony on A4225 Professional Licenses for immigrants
• Statement of Solidarity against Anti-Black Racism
• Testimony to NJDOE re: Perkins Grant & Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment Dec., 4, 2019
• Advocacy & Policy Summit, Oct. 12, 2019, Updates, Concerns, Legislation, and Information
• Graduates from other countries – NJ public schools
• Testimony to the State Board of Education, Sept. 2019: Equity Concerns for English Learners
• Position Statement on Family Separation and Hate Speech
• Testimony to the State Board of Education, May 1, 2019
• Immigration Policies That Merit Review
• An Approach to Recruitment of Bilingual, Dual Language and ESL Professionals
• Position Statement on Language Rights