The city of Los Angeles' 1979 Special Order 40 states: "LAPD officers shall not initiate police action with the objective of discovering the alien status of a person." After reading a fact sheet that details the history of Special Order 40 and the issues in the current debate about the policy, groups conduct a panel discussion and decide what position to take on the policy.

Concepts

illegal immigration, immigration, united states immigration, united states foreign policy

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Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Use the provided "Handling Controversy in the Classroom' to review protocols for safe, respectful discussions of controversial issues before presenting the lesson
• Assign the article as homework rather than using class time for the reading

 

Classroom Considerations

• Fourth in a series immigration-related resources designed to be used in order
• Requires individual copies of the two handouts
• The 2009 "Educating about Immigration" information sheet has been updated to reflect post-9/11 concerns and issues raised by the election of Donald Trump
• The activity presumes a protocol is in place for the safe, respectful discussion of controversial issues

Pros

• The fact sheet includes information about concerns raised by the President Trump's pledge to deport undocumented immigrants
• The five-page resource includes a step-by-step plan, the fact sheet, and discussion questions

Cons

• None

Common Core

RH.9-10.1 RH.9-10.6 RH.11-12.1 RH.11-12.6