The state of California has the largest EL student population in the nation at 19.1%. Multilingual learners are often subject to a deficit orientation in schools that focuses on what they are assumed to lack rather than the assets that they bring from their multiple languages and cultures. The term English Learner itself assumes that racialized multilingual learners are lacking in their ability to speak and understand English. Current and future multilingual learners face many challenges posed by a slew of structural imbalances as well as this deficit framing — such as economic hardship, segregation, interrupted schooling, under-resourced schools, lack of ESL/bilingual certified teachers and low expectations.