This qualitative study attempts to provide an in-depth understanding of family life,
child-rearing, and educational concerns of undocumented immigrant workers and draw policy
implications based on a reflection on the realities of Korean society in the era of transnational
immigration. Toward this end, it analyzes the child-rearing and educational narratives of six
undocumented immigrant worker families living in the city of D with focus on transnational
family and border-crossing identity. The transnational families of undocumented immigrant
workers in Korea occupy the lowest rung of global society, and are not the result of deliberate
decision-making on the part of the families in this era of globalization, but are the result of
regulations imposed by the nation state, which lead to families being separated and finding
themselves in a precarious position in raising and educating their children. Also, their
border-crossing identity, which is the result of the high mobility demanded by work and their
separation from any established community in their home country, act as an obstacle in their
child's education. Based on the findings, this article presents policy implications for Korea,
which has taken up the motto of “Multicultural Korea.”