A child in an immigration shelter in Chicago (AP)A majority of the children of illegal immigrants from Mexico in Los Angeles do not graduate from high school, according to the findings of a new study, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Adults with parents who were legal immigrants averaged about 13 years of education, but those whose parents were illegal immigrants went to school for an average of only 11 years, the study found.
Most children of illegal immigrants in the country are American citizens. Frank Bean, the author of the study and the director of the Center for Research on Immigration, Population and Public Policy at the University of California, Irvine, told the L.A. Times that citizenship doesn't protect children from the stresses of their parents' lack of immigration status. Many feel the need to drop out and help their parents earn money, he said.
About a quarter of K-12 students are immigrants or the children of immigrants, and about 7 percent of students are the children of illegal immigrants, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.