Chapter 8: Immigration and Social Studies Teacher Education

Immigration has always been a contested issue in the United States. Yet, as this chapter has been developed, the urgency of this issue seems to have reached near an all-time high. Within the first 100 days of his election, President Trump has issued executive orders to ban travel from some countries, to freeze the U.S. refugee program temporarily, and to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. Clearly, given the urgency of this historical and political issue, immigration should be a priority in social studies classrooms and in social studies teacher education programs. Thus, it is my hope that this chapter may bring some clarity to the problems and possibilities of this topic so that social studies teacher educators can work on this issue productively in this challenging time.