| Abstract: | Hispanic and Latino Americans want security from terrorists as much as all other Americans. A protective membrane surrounding the country that is too porous is of little use and constitutes a danger to residents, both citizens and non-citizens alike. This much is uncontroversial. Similarly, most American citizens truly benefit from the work product of undocumented workers. Presumably, some case can be made that most undocumented workers see themselves as better off than if they had remained in their country of origin. Things become controversial when an attempt is made to balance resident safety against resident desire for inexpensive labor. The controversy inevitably escalates when consideration is given to the fairness of wages paid to undocumented workers. These moral issues cannot be ignored. However, as important as these issues are, the present argument addresses more specifically the duties educators have towards learners and potential learners regardless of their current citizenship status. The argument acknowledges that all citizens of a nation have certain duties to that nation but then the argument concludes by pointing out that some ageless professions like medicine and pedagogy have special duties transcending any immediate and transient duties imposed by nationalistic affiliation. Specifically in the case of education, all pedagogues have a duty to do nothing to exclude any willing participant from participation in the Great Conversation of Humankind. |
