To understand how educational policies are created and supported for immigrants and their children, we must explore how community members make sense of broader immigrant/immigration discourses. Guided by theories of "boundary work," grounded analyses of 27 interviews with U.S.-born residents in metropolitan St. Louis (a community with diverse and increasing immigration) revealed conflicting and ambivalent discourses. Respondents' opinions shifted as they conceptualized affiliations and borders--real and symbolic--between themselves and foreign-born individuals. The discussion will address how the "hardening" or "blurring" of such boundaries can affect the development and support of educational policies for immigrants and refugees.