Maria Trejo, Elev8 director at Ames Middle School in Chicago, says that her school, which was recently in danger of becoming a military school, will not be closed or made a welcoming school. Ames boundaries, however, will be reconfigured for the upcoming school year. This change will increase their enrollment by 300-500 students.

Trejo says that safety is everyone’s number one concern. “Now that the list is out, parents are very concerned because the kids will have to be transported through gang territories,” she says. A newly formed organization called The Logan Square School Facilities Council (LSSFC), Trejo adds, is also pressuring CPS to come up with a safe passage plan.

When Chicago Public Schools made the very controversial decision this past March to close 54 public schools, many pointed out that black and Latino students would be the hardest hit. Nine out of ten students potentially affected by school closings this year are black and eight of the schools that are scheduled to be closed and incorporated into other schools have over 20 percent Latino enrollment.

Chicago Public Schools has argued the schools that are being closed have been losing students as a result of the population changes in the city. Last month, it also also announced that it will be investing $155 million in welcoming schools to provide children with the resources they need. Despite the justifications, the announcements of the closures were initially met with protests and boycotts throughout Chicago.

The most recent school hearings, however, have been sparsely attended. Community leaders believe that some people are simply burned out at this point. The list of schools being closed will not be official until May 22nd, but many parents, community organizers, and school officials are already preparing for the upcoming changes.

Chicago Public Schools has announced that that each welcoming school will have a dedicated safety plan tailored for its specific needs. They’ve partnered with CPD to make sure each plan  considers neighborhood conditions, the distance between schools, and an analysis of other safety risks such as busy streets and intersections. They will also provide individual support strategy plans based on the distinct needs of students, families and communities.

RELATED: Chicago’s decision to close 54 schools elicits strong reactions

Cristina Carreto, Family and Community Engagement Manager for Pilsen and Little Village, also says safety is at the top of everyone’s list. “We’re working hard with CPD [Chicago Police Department] to make sure the transition runs smoothly,” she says.

Carreto says that the elementary schools in her predominately Latino neighborhoods– Cardenas and Castellanos– will be the welcoming schools while nearby Paderewski, located in a predominately African American community, will likely be closing. “I think their concern is the integration of students with a different background,” she says. “We want to start building these relationships with each other. We want to build that gradually.” Carreto says that they are also beginning to plan bullying and culture workshops. They are also considering summer picnics, carnivals, tours for students and parents, and setting up pen pals between the three schools. But they hesitate to implement any measures until the school closure is certain.

RELATED: 54 Chicago schools to close, opponents say minority students will be affected the most

Student transitions and safety are not the only concern. Trejo believes that the added distance between home and school will prevent many parents from becoming engaged in their children’s education, especially because most are busy working parents.

Alivette Alicea, who has two of her five children at Ames, says she’s hopeful about the changes.

“We have the faith that it’s going to be good for us because we’re underutilized,” she says. She’s also glad that the principal is having an open house and tours for students and parents. “That’s awesome because not all of the other schools do that. If we could bring more parents to get involved, it would be great for students.”

by Erika L. Sánchez

There is no doubt that Jeb Bush has recently increased his national profile. In addition to heavily promoting his new book Immigration Wars: Forging an American Solution,” this past Wednesday Bush gave a speech in Dallas titled “Restoring America’s Promise: The Leadership Required and the Policy Changes that are Needed.” Earlier this month his brother George W. Bush told Parade magazine that he hoped Jeb would run for president in 2016.

Bush hasn’t announced any plans to run, but many say he would be the right Republican candidate to lure Latino voters again. In the last election, presidential candidate Mitt Romney received only 27 percent of the Latino vote, which was markedly lower than President George W. Bush’s support in 2004 with 44 percent and John McCain’s 31 percent in 2008. A recent poll from Latino Decisions also found that 69 percent of Latino voters describe the GOP as hostile or indifferent to Latinos.

“His affinity, his relationship with the Latino community, and his wife being Mexican has really helped him understand issues important to Latinos,” says political strategist Vincent Casillas. “He will definitely have more opportunities to engage in a conversation. His background will get Latinos to listen, but not necessarily trust him. Every candidate has to earn that trust. The general population has become very suspect [sic] of politicians. The narrative they believe is that politicians will say what they need to say to get elected.”

RELATED: Jeb Bush’s new book “Immigration Wars”: No path to citizenship

Bush’s Latino wife and children and his integration of Latino culture in his political life have earned him the title of “honorary Hispanic” in some circles. Republicans like Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart believe this makes him a perfect candidate for the 2016 election.

But Casillas is skeptical of this classification. “The honorary Hispanic label is slowly losing its charm as the Latino voter becomes more and more sophisticated,” Casillas says. “We’re not just looking for someone who knows the issues, we want a representative who will advocate for those issues.”

Sylvia Manzano, senior analyst at Latino Decisions, believes that Jeb Bush does have a sense of legitimacy and authenticity. “We know that he knows us. He gets it. He doesn’t have to be taught who these communities are. He does it from a sincere place. His wife and children have shaped and [improved]  the way he’s been able to communicate,” Manzano says. She believes Bush’s ability to joke in Spanish and use subtext specific to Latinos can work in his favor. “I don’t know if you win votes just based on that. But what it does do is open a door,” she adds.

RELATED: Jeb Bush will co-chair Republican Hispanic leadership conference

During the 2012 GOP primary, Latino Decisions polled Latino voters on Jeb Bush’s favorability rating. At that time, he polled very well in Florida, but was mostly unknown outside of the state.

Casillas believes that flip-flopping on immigration will be especially hard for Bush to overcome. “Latino voters will find it very hard to trust him,” he says. “The pathway to citizenship to us is not negotiable.”

Manzano, however, doesn’t believe this will necessarily be a problem if he chooses to run for president. “I’m not sure how much immigration will play out in 2016,” she says. “It depends how the bill goes over this summer. In any case, he’s somewhat distanced from it.” Manzano points out that health care, another important issue right now, will also be resolved by 2016. “It’s hard to say what issues will be on the table,” she says. “It’s a little premature to be thinking about it.”

But Casillas believes Latinos are already looking towards 2016. “I think that the community hopes for a Latino president have increased. We aren’t looking for an honorary Hispanic. Our expectations have risen beyond that,” he says.

It’s the million dollar question, the one many are afraid to ask when it comes to immigration reform. What will happen at the border once the bill actually passes? Some fear that granting a path towards residency will create a mass flow of people trying to enter the country illegally

The Center for Immigration Studies, an anti-immigrant think tank, published an article claiming the United States’ southwest border has seen a 500 percent  increase in border apprehensions. According to the United States Border Patrol Statistics, however, the total apprehensions between 2011 and 2012 only increased by 7.2 percent.

“If they do pass legislation, it’s a very long process. It’s not falling in line with the fears,” says Jose D. Villalobos, political science professor at the University of Texas at El Paso. Villalobos says this kind of coverage of the border is new, though the idea of immigration reform is not. “After Obama instituted the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, there hasn’t been any news coverage of anything becoming unstable,” he says.

Linda Bosniak, professor of law at Rutgers University, says it’s hard to believe that anyone’s behavior would be affected by the passing of the immigration bill. “Any legalization will require a person to show they’ve been here for a couple of years,” Bosniak says. She points out this was the case in the 1986 amnesty, which required applicants to have resided in the United States since 1982. This stipulation made one-third of the undocumented population automatically ineligible.

According to the Associated Press, an anonymous aide claims that the bipartisan immigration bill would bar anyone who arrived in the U.S. after Dec. 31, 2011 from applying for legal status and ultimately citizenship. It would also require applicants to have a clean criminal record and show enough employment or financial stability that they’re likely to stay off welfare. These conditions could exclude hundreds of thousands of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S.

“This is a one-time deal. This is not a rolling amnesty or legalization,” Bosniak says. “The concern is that undocumented immigrants will want to cross the border, but it’s been 27 years since the last amnesty. Back in 1986, opponents were making the same arguments that people are making today. The rates did increase in the 90s, but that was a function of many factors. There was no indication that the prospect of amnesty would play any part of it.”

A study analyzing the long-term impact of the 1986 amnesty also found there was a decline in the number of border apprehensions in the fourteen years after it was enacted.

Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes, professor of economics at San Diego State University, believes the circumstances have completely changed since the previous amnesty. She points out that in the 1980s, the Mexican economy was suffering while the U.S. was expanding and growing.

Not only have the economic conditions changed, Amuendo-Dorantes says that the U.S-Mexico border has also undergone a dramatic transformation in the last 27 years, which would discourage people from trying to cross the border illegally. According to a report from the Migration Policy Institute, the U.S. government spends more on its immigration enforcement than on all other principal criminal federal law enforcement agencies combined. In 2012 it spent nearly $18 billion dollars on border security.

“The border enforcement today isn’t the same as in 1986. It’s increased exponentially, especially after 9/11. Every person who is captured is prosecuted. Back in 1986, it was a capture and release policy. The consequences are tough– if you make it. The risk of losing your life is significant. Even if you make it through the border, you live in fear.”

Though some fear that immigration reform will encourage undocumented immigrants to break the law, some experts believe that immigration would actually reduce crime. Scott Baker, a doctoral candidate at Stanford Department of Economics, believes that immigration reform could reduce crime nationwide by as many as 50,000 fewer crimes per year. In studying  the effects of the 1986 amnesty, Baker found that drops in crime of approximately 1-4 percent were associated with one percent of the population being legalized. In examining the labor market and employment data, he concluded that crime could be attributed to greater job market opportunities among those legalized by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

Bosniak believes that those against immigration are more concerned will allowing undocumented immigrants to stay in the country after breaking the law than they are fearful of an influx of people at the border. “I think opponents are unhappy with the prospect of people to be rewarded for violating the rules,” she says. “It’s the notion that legalization would function as a reward for ‘bad behavior’.”

by Erika L. Sánchez

It’s no secret that Latinas are the hardest hit by the gender wage gap. A recent analysis from the National Partnership for Women and Families showed that Latinas are paid 55 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men  in the nation’s top 50 metro areas. Although wage disparities exist at all career levels for Latinas, immigrant women are especially susceptible and are considered the least economically secure population in the United States.

Currently, there are approximately 5.4 million undocumented immigrant women living and working in the United States who must work the lowest-paying jobs because of their immigration status. In 2011, 208,000 Latina women worked in jobs paying below the federal minimum wage compared to 172,000 Latino men.

Research shows that a woman’s average lifetime earnings are more than $434,000 less than a comparable male counterpart over a 35-year working life. This means very difficult financial choices for women of color, who are more likely to be the breadwinners that than their white counterparts.

RELATED: On Equal Pay Day, concern over Latina wage gap

“When women are not paid enough, it affects their families, particularly the education of their children,” says Claudia Williams, research analyst at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

She says that this lack of financial security also means that they are less likely to save for retirement.

Williams believes that immigration reform would improve women’s economic circumstances. If they are subject to abuse, they would also be able to move to another job. Not only are undocumented Latinas underpaid, they must often work in hostile environments. Women in agribusiness, for instance, experience high levels of sexual harassment and sexual violence at work and their undocumented status makes it very difficult for them to challenge these conditions or look for other jobs

Iliana Guadalupe Perez, 25, an independent contractor who helps educate other undocumented immigrants to find her kind of work, says that though her sales and marketing contracting has certain benefits, such as flexibility and a fairly high hourly rate, it’s not what she wants to do in the long run. “This has nothing to do with what I’ve studied,” Perez says. “My degree in math was useless. I couldn’t even get an interview. This is not my ideal situation.” Perez, who is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Education and a Masters in Economics, says her dream job would be working in the U.N. or the World Bank

Another disadvantage is in her line of work, Perez says, is that she’s unable to get tenure, which would result in pay increases over time. Not only that, she points out that undocumented people don’t have the option of insurance, retirement funds, or investment funds.

Perez also feels that immigration reform will significantly improve the financial status of Latinas. “It will give a lot of Latinas the opportunities to use their skills. A lot are educated but are limited to their potential. A Social Security number would allow people to explore new avenues for employment.”

RELATED: New figures show Latina women hit hard by wage gap

Ann Garcia, an immigration policy analyst at the Center for American Progress, says that the Paycheck Fairness Act and immigration reform would help close the wage gap for Latinas and improve the economy. “When you legalize workers, you offer them citizenship. Taking the worker out of the economic sidelines would cause a rise in productivity and wages that would create a great ripple effect in the economy,” says Garcia.

According to the Center for American Progress, immigration reform that would legalize the approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. would add a cumulative $1.5 trillion to U.S. gross domestic product, or GDP, over 10 years.

Garcia says that American workers and undocumented immigrants would see a huge rise in income and that the boost in wages would be bigger for woman than men. “It would provide improved economic outcomes through increased legal protections, better investments in education and training, higher paying jobs, economic mobility. It would also easier for people to start their own business,” Garcia says. “If we can have economic actors earning more, consuming more, and paying higher taxes, the economy would see a serious amount of growth.”

The closest thing Latinos have to a national holiday is Cesar Chavez’s birthday on March 31st. Cesar Chavez’s birthday is already celebrated in ten states, and President Barack Obama not only has supported making it a national holiday, but recently named a national park on his behalf.

This week, children will be learning about the labor leader’s legacy in schools, and marches have been organized from California to Pennsylvania to honor the 86th anniversary of his birth and in support of immigration reform.

He has become the hero, the leader for Latinos pushing for immigration reform.

“He stood up and got people to believe in themselves,” says Paul Chavez, his son and president of the Cesar Chavez Foundation.

On March 23^rd and 24^th Chavez led marches  in Yakima, Washington and several California cities. Thousands of people– families affected by immigration reform, farm workers, and social activists– participated.

RELATED: Opinion: Cesar Chavez’s son on why the Colorado River must be saved

Chavez believes his father’s memory is thriving because of the ongoing immigration debate and country’s changing demographics. “People look for someone who they can relate to,” he says. He points out that his father, like many undocumented immigrants, came from humble beginnings and struggled throughout his life. But despite his hardships, he was able to lead and inspire.

Matthew Garcia, professor of history and author of “From the Jaws of History: The Triumph and Tragedy of Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker Movement,” says that although Chavez was a far more complicated man than he was given credit for, Latinos have built up Cesar Chavez’s legacy because of their need for a hero. “We need our Martin Luther King, too,” he says.

For Marcos Muñoz, a former United Farm Workers organizer, Cesar Chavez was a very inspirational figure who transformed his life. After immigrating from Coahuila, Mexico when he was 13 years old, Muñoz became a migrant worker in California where he earned two to three dollars a day. In 1965 he was picking grapes when a group of people called him in to an office. There, they told him about the strike and explained how the union would benefit migrant workers. One of the people in the group was Cesar Chavez. From that day forward, Muñoz was involved in the movement and traveled all over the country to educate people about the boycott and working conditions of migrant workers.

“We didn’t have hope in our lives. We were scared,” he says. “But I found faith. It changed my life and my way of thinking.”

Like Chavez, Muñoz also believes that the renewed interest in Cesar Chavez’s life may also be due to  the current immigration debate. “Things have gotten better in many ways, but it’s not enough. We have to do what he wasn’t able to finish,” he says.

Though Chavez has become a symbol for immigration reform, many point out that Chavez was not in favor of expanding immigration and believed that undocumented immigrants could pose a threat to unionized workers. Chavez and the UFWs even reported some undocumented immigrants to the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

RELATED: Women launch effort to name a street after Cesar Chavez

Regardless of the complicated history, Chavez is still mobilizing Latinos 20 years after his death, including many young undocumented people who are looking for a leader, representative or symbol they can relate to.

“Now in these difficult times, with Latinos being victimized, it’s especially important to remember that we’ve been here for many years,” Chavez says. “We come and work in the most difficult conditions that other folks refuse to do, and yet we still have tremendous optimism in this great land.”

by Erika L. Sánchez

Silvia Rodriguez, 25, was born in Chihuahua and immigrated to Arizona with her parents when she was two years old. She says that for or the first 14 years, she was not fully aware of what it meant to be undocumented. “As time passed by, I found out that I had more and more disadvantages compared to my friends and people that I knew,” she says. “When it came time to apply for scholarships and financial aid, that was the moment it really, really hit me.”

Regardless, Rodriguez applied to Arizona State University and was accepted with scholarships that covered her tuition. But as a result of Proposition 300, Rodriguez became ineligible for in-state tuition or financial aid in the middle of her second year. “It was a really awful experience. I was so sad and depressed,” she says.

Despite this huge setback, Rodriguez was able to continue her education by fundraising and working with her professors who advocated for her. “It was such a miracle that I graduated,” she says.

But her problems didn’t end when she graduated. Rodriguez found herself unable to work because she lacked documentation. She said that there were times she didn’t even have a place to live. During this difficult period, she decided to apply to graduate school and was accepted to Harvard University Graduate School of Education. She was able to pay her tuition by applying to every scholarship available to her and by creating a fundraising campaign called Harvard, Si Se Puede! Rodriguez, now a conditional resident, is currently a doctoral student at the University of California Los Angeles where she’s studying the effects of immigration policy on children of undocumented families.

Despite all of her hardships, Rodriguez says she never felt resentful towards her documented siblings. “I knew that they had documents and I was really happy about that because I knew that they had more opportunities than I did. They could go to the dentist and get medical care take trips. I felt happy for them, but I kind of felt sad for me. It wasn’t resentment or anything like that. I just felt a little bit left out.”

Hirokazu Yoshikawa, the academic dean at Harvard Graduate School of Education and author of “Immigrants Raising Citizens,” points out that the current debate almost completely ignores children. “Having a parent who lives in the shadows harms development from early childhood to adulthood,” he says. “The earliest effects are cognitive in early childhood and show as early as two or three years old.”

Yoshikawa says that emotional effects manifest in adolescence with depressive symptoms and higher rates of anxiety. Like Rodriguez, this may be when they realize educational opportunities are blocked and that there are legal barriers to employment.

Marcelo Suarez-Orozco, dean of the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, points out that parents’ good intentions for their children are often undermined by their legal status. “They are motivated to offer their children a better set of opportunities. Ironically, their own lack of documentation impedes access to a wide variety of services and support that children are entitled to,” he says. “It fundamentally creates a culture of fear. Taking the child to school or taking them to the store generates all sorts of mental calculations.”

In their study, “Growing Up in the Shadows,” Suarez-Orozco, Yoshikawa, and other authors point out that there is a lack of research on the psychosocial implications of growing up unauthorized or growing up in an unauthorized home. There has only been a recent awareness of this issue in the field of psychology.

Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, M.D., Ph.D., professor of clinical internal medicine and director of the center for reducing health disparities, is currently collaborating with lead researcher Luis Zayas, professor and dean of The University of Texas, Austin, School of Social Work, in a new study that examines the ways in which the deportation of undocumented Mexican migrants affects their American-born children.

Aguilar-Gaxiola says he was interested in the pilot study because he had been working with immigrant populations in Fresno, California. While treating the psychological problems of migrant workers who had been injured, he became sensitive to the issues that these families face.

Researchers of this study will be interviewing 80 U.S. citizen children with undocumented parents. The children will be between the ages of 10 and 12, half male and half female and belong to four different groups– children who accompanied their deported parents to Mexico, children who remained in the United States in the care of one parent after the other parent was deported, children who remained in the U.S. in the care of extended family or friends, and children whose immigrant parents have not been deported and are not in removal proceedings.

“The kids are at a key stage of development,” he says. “The single most important indicator of early onset mental illness and chronic health problems is the experience of childhood adversity.”

Aguilar-Gaxiola is hopeful that the study will shed new light on this issue and influence immigration policies. “There are 5 million children who live in a world where they lose, little by little, their right to have rights. They can’t fully flourish in the fears that their parents have,” he says. “We’re hoping that with these findings, the information is going to be helpful for legislators and enforcers of the law. It can give a better understanding of the unintended consequences immigration policies have on our children.”

This is the third installment of Latinas empowering other Latinas to succeed in honor of Women’s History Month. 

Maria Pesqueira, president and CEO of Mujeres Latinas en Acción, grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago, but always felt like she was part of the Pilsen community, a predominately Latino working class neighborhood of Chicago where her family would spend their weekends. “I really felt like I was at home,” she says.

Pesqueira has now worked in the community for 20 years and has been at Mujeres Latinas en Acción for 11 years. “The history in this community is of social service,” she says. “Our mission as a whole is to empower Latinas and their families.”

According to Pesqueira, the organization began in the early 70s when the Chicana movement was emerging. During this time, a group of Chicago women saw a need for bilingual and bicultural social services for Latinas. This year Mujeres Latinas en Acción is celebrating their 40^th anniversary and is considered the longest standing incorporated Latina organization in the nation.

Women in Transition helps Latinas become entrepreneurs.

Prior to working at Mujeres Latinas en Acción, Claudia Alcántara, director of the Women in Transition Program, was a Montessori teacher. She says that during this time she realized that parents had a lot of needs that were not being met.

“There was something that was pushing me to help other people like me. They were going through acculturation and all these types of things immigrants live,” she says. “I wanted to be closer to the community, not just as a teacher.”

 RELATED: Six Figures: A social worker teaches to use your own experiences for empowerment

Alcántara describes the Women in Transition Program as the bridge between the community and the Department of Human Resources. The program helps Latinas by providing information and referrals for resources in the organization and community, case management to assist them in obtaining public benefits, and emergency financial assistance for those who qualify.

The organization is multifaceted and offers support through a variety of other programs– Latina Leadership, Domestic Violence, and Parent Support, just to name a few. They also recently began a group called Empresarias del Futuro, which offers women training to become entrepreneurs.

The curriculum includes developing self-esteem, goal planning, budgeting, and interpersonal skills. Participants also learn about business development, securing loans, and marketing.

This idea emerged when Alcántara began to notice that many of the women they were serving were unaware that they had valuable skills and that they were already using them to contribute to their family’s income.

One of the participants, Alcántara says, felt insecure at first, but as she participated in the group, she began gaining self-esteem and self-confidence. Eventually, she even began her own cleaning business. “I think this is empowering for these people, especially women who don’t know that they have the talent they can develop,” she says.

RELATED: Women’s History Month: Latinas build confidence through photography in Los Angeles

Pesqueira says that one the major challenges facing Latinas today is the economy. Juggling work, children, and their personal lives can really affect their health. “Latinas are the biggest uninsured group in this country,” she says. “A lot of women are working without taking care of their mind and body.”

Regardless of their hardships, Pesqueira believes Latinas are resilient and compassionate. “Latinas have an amazing spirit to seguir adelante. It isn’t just about themselves, but helping others around them,” she says. “It’s no surprise that they are helping the economy and I don’t think they get their due respect for that.”

Alcántara has observed that Latinas often struggle to recognize their own strengths, and many of their programs address that. “They need to believe in themselves,” she says. “Sometimes they’re not connected within the community and they don’t realize that they have the power to move forward.”