'We have made it a crime for most refugees to want the American dream'

Silhouette of a little boy from the back holding an American flag against the sky

(Image credit: Tetra Images / Getty Images)

published 27 December 2024

'What are the emotional risks of losing a student to such an injustice?'

Larry Strauss at USA Today

As President-elect Donald Trump plans for the largest deportation operation in American history, "I am left wondering where that leaves me and my colleagues, those of us whose students are the children of — and in some cases themselves — the people the Trump administration plans to make refugees of," says Larry Strauss. Many teachers "anticipate facing difficult choices," not just about "cooperating with authorities," but also in "dealing with the aftermath of fractured families and shattered lives."

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Anya Jaremko-Greenwold has worked as a story editor at The Week since 2024. She previously worked at FLOOD Magazine, Woman's World, First for Women, DGO Magazine and BOMB Magazine. Anya's culture writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Jezebel, Vice and the Los Angeles Review of Books, among others.