To understand how educational policies are created and supported for immigrants and their children, we must explore how community members make sense of broader immigrant/immigration discourses. Guided by theories of “boundary work,” grounded analyses of 27 interviews with U.S.-born residents in metropolitan St. Louis (a community with diverse and increasing immigration) revealed conflicting and ambivalent discourses. Respondents’ opinions shifted as they conceptualized affiliations and borders—real and symbolic—between themselves and foreign-born individuals. The discussion will address how the “hardening” or “blurring” of such boundaries can affect the development and support of educational policies for immigrants and refugees.
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