Immigrant Education Rights Project

In 2004, immigrant students and their parents who attend Abraham Lincoln High School began working with CrossingBarriers in advocating for better educational services in the school. Abraham Lincoln High School is located in Minneapolis, overseen by the Minneapolis Public Schools alternative programs division and directly managed by the non-profit organization called the Institute of New Americans.

After several community organizing initiatives, CrossingBarriers facilitated student concerns to a higher level of management at local district and state levels. The students took charge of their own advocacy to improve the way English Language Learner students receive education in this school. CrossingBarriers has been involved in a lawsuit against Minneapolis Schools regarding the provisions of an adequate education for immigrant students. We have challenged the warehousing of immigrant students in poor performing alternative schools–which failed to provide students with disabilities reading and writing problems in appropriate educational settings. CrossingBarriers also amplified the voice of immigrant students and impacted the Minneapolis School System by finding appropriate ELL courses for students. As result, the school district was pressured to make significant structural changes to improve the way immigrant students, especially those students in English Language Learner classes, are educated.

To see an article about CrossingBarriers’ work with students from Abraham Lincoln High School, click here.

Research and Advocacy Project

CrossingBarriers has developed a partnership with the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota to conduct research and advocacy for immigrant students.

Through this research, we conducted focus groups with African students from Somalia to learn about their educational experiences attending public schools in St. Paul and Minneapolis.  The goal of this research was to advocate for needs that had been ignored by the school systems and to create awareness of issues facing our students.  Students had been forthcoming about the structural exclusions they had faced under the administrations in the public schools they have attended.  Many male East African students also complained about mistreatment and profiling by the local police.  As a result, we helped organize workshops with local police officials and African student unions to address the concerns of students, improve communication between the youth and police and educate East African youth about their rights and responsibilities.  This initiative had an impact both on the community police officer and the students, as they became more comfortable talking about the challenges they face in their relations and how to over them.  This has led to more meetings between student leaders and community police in an effort to better relationships.  In addition, we continue to work with the youth to education them about their rights and responsibilities as community members and leaders.

Students Against Violence Project

In 2008, CrossingBarriers began training and supporting student advocacy group, called Students Against Violence. These are Somali student leaders from University of Minnesota engaging Somali youth in Saint Paul and Minneapolis high schools’ after school programs to prevent youth violence. These students want to create strategies within the community about how they can stop “youth on youth violence and shootings in the Somali community. In the past, they have protested the negative impact of violence in their community, mobilized and organized over 300 students through outreach, created a public awareness campaign to educate the youth and fostered better communication between parents, elders, and youth.

Their goal is to contribute to local and state government policies regarding youth crime prevention policies, to be a voice, create positive impact and nourish support systems for underprivileged youth living in disenfranchised neighborhoods lacking adequate youth services and after school programs. Students address policy makers, develop strategic plans, attend workshops on community organizing, navigate local political/legislative systems and improve project management skills.