American students in Mexican schools: gaps and challenges for inclusion. Ethnographic contributions from Oaxaca, Mexico

Abstract

This paper analyzes the school insertion of American born minors of Mexican origin in the state of Oaxaca. This is one of the Mexican states which is most affected by the return of Mexican migrants due to the tightening of the Trump administration's immigration policy. The results presented in this study have been obtained through a qualitative methodology in which the techniques of participant and non-participant observation, interviews, discussion groups and documentary analysis have been used. The target population is made up of American students between twelve and seventeen years old, enrolled in middle schools and in higher secondary schools. The findings show the presence of different elements of exclusion -such as the absence of diagnostic tests and programs for teaching Spanish and for leveling study content learning. The above causes that these children go through differentiated school trajectories due to their immigration status, which causes social and educational exclusion, and has important consequences for their present and future life.