Why would a parent take their child on a dangerous journey to the United States? Gabrielle Oliveira argues that one of the most overlooked answers is care.
Oliveira, a Harvard professor who studies immigration, education, and family migration, spent years following 16 migrant families from Brazil, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. She explains how violence, insecurity, and a lack of opportunity push families to leave, while safety and education become central to what they hope to find in America.
We talk about border detention and family separation, what children remember about migration, why American schools can represent opportunity for immigrant families, and Oliveira’s idea of “constrained care” among teachers trying to support immigrant students.
She also challenges the way immigrant children are often portrayed only as victims or extraordinary success stories, leaving out the ordinary lives most children eventually build.
BOOK
Book: Now We Are Here: Family Migration, Children’s Education, and Dreams for a Better Life
https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9781503644540
GUEST BIO
Gabrielle Oliveira is the Jorge Paulo Lemann Associate Professor of Education and Brazil Studies at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. An anthropologist of education, her research examines immigration, mobility, family life, and children’s schooling across borders. She is the author of Motherhood Across Borders and Now We Are Here: Family Migration, Children’s Education, and Dreams for a Better Life, which received the 2026 American Educational Research Association Outstanding Book Award.
