English as a second language or ESL instruction is said to be for students who have moved to the United States (or Canada) from another country and temporarily need assistance in learning the English language. However, statistically, a vast majority of ESL students in the United States were born in the US and are US citizens. When students are labelled as ESL and placed in this tract of alternative education, there is an othering process going on. This narrative literature review questions how do these ESL students negotiate their own identity. It is shown that ESL students are socialized into a deficit model, placed in classrooms where the discourse is hegemonic and are placed in location of constant power play where the system is set up against them.