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UC Davis experts: Undocumented workersAs guest worker programs and illegal immigration lead the news, the UC Davis faculty can offer broad expertise on these issues regarding undocumented workers. Spanish-language media, please note a number of fluent Spanish speakers are identified: Martin, Kyle, de la Torre, Guarnizo, Gandara and Resendez. If you need information on a topic not listed, please contact Claudia Morain at the UC Davis News Service, (530) 752-9841, cmmorain@ucdavis.edu; Pat Bailey, News Service, (530) 752-9843, pjbailey@ucdavis.edu; or Julia Ann Easley, News Service, (530) 752-8248, jaeasley@ucdavis.edu. Politics and law
Economics and social issues
POLITICS AND LAWLabor and migration politicsPhilip Martin, professor of agricultural and resource economics, is an authority on migration and labor issues, particularly agricultural labor. He can discuss current legislation in Congress related to guest worker programs, labor and migration as they affect U.S. and Mexico relations. Martin has published extensively on labor, migration, economic development and immigration policy issues and has testified before Congress and state and local agencies on those issues. He has co-authored a report urging California policymakers to develop strategies that will encourage and hasten the integration of immigrants into the state's economy and society. He also maintains a Web publication, Migration Dialogue, with extensive information about world migration issues. Contact: Philip Martin, Agricultural and Resource Economics, plmartin@ucdavis.edu. Undocumented workers and civil rightsLaw professor Kevin Johnson can talk about undocumented workers and civil rights, including immigration law reform and border enforcement. His latest book is "The 'Huddled Masses' Myth: Immigration and Civil Rights" (2004). Johnson also wrote "How Did You Get to Be Mexican?" and is editor of the anthology of readings "Mixed Race America: A Critical Reader." He is a professor of Chicana/o studies as well as the associate dean for academic affairs at the UC Davis School of Law and the Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law. In addition, Johnson is president of the board of directors for Legal Services of Northern California. His immigration law professor's blog can be found at /. Contact: Kevin Johnson, School of Law, (530) 752-0243, krjohnson@ucdavis.edu. Mexican attitudes and policiesElizabeth Zechmeister, a UC Davis assistant professor of political science, can talk about attitudes in Mexico toward immigration issues as well as policy on both sides of the border. She specializes in comparative political behavior, with a focus on Latin America and, in particular, on Mexican politics. Zechmeister has published articles on voting behavior in Mexico, the meaning of ideological labels in Latin America and political representation in Latin America. Among her current projects is a study of political behavior in times of crisis, a study of Mexican-American political participation and a co-authored book manuscript on Latin American party systems. Contact: Elizabeth Zechmeister, Political Science, (530) 754-6794, ejzech@ucdavis.edu. Migrant politics on both sides of the borderMichael P. Smith, professor of human and community development at UC Davis and a faculty associate of the California Studies Center at UC Berkeley, can talk about Mexican migrant politics and their social network in California. Smith's research deals with migrant networks and associations in political life on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border, including community development and electoral politics in Mexican communities and regions, and urban, state and national politics in the U.S. During the past decade, he has been studying the social networks that link cities and regions in California to other communities and regions across the globe. These sites for research include San Francisco, Sacramento, Stockton, Napa, the Silicon Valley and Los Angeles. He is author of "Transnational Urbanism: Locating Globalization" (2001) and co-editor of "Transnationalism From Below" (1998). Contact: Michael P. Smith, Human and Community Development, (530) 752-2243 or (510) 644-1954, mpsmith@ucdavis.edu. Chicano politics and health careAdela de la Torre, director and professor of Chicana/o studies, is an expert in politics as well as health-care access and finance issues that affect the Latino community. She can talk about issues ranging from the broader politics of the Latino establishment regarding undocumented workers to national policy implications over excluding health and education resources from illegal aliens. An economist, de la Torre is the author of "Sana, Sana: Mexican Americans and Health"; and "Moving From the Margins: A Chicana's View of Public Policy." Contact: Adela de la Torre (fluent in Spanish), Chicana/o Studies, (530) 752-3904, adelatorre@ucdavis.edu. ECONOMICS AND SOCIAL ISSUESImmigration issues in EuropeLuis Guarnizo, an associate professor of human and community development, recently completed a study about Latin American immigration in four European countries -- Italy, Spain, England and Denmark. He can talk about how the flow of undocumented workers into countries raises universal issues of citizenship and human rights. Guarnizo studies the processes and effects of U.S.- and E.U.-bound migration of people from Latin American countries. He has investigated the web of social networks and power structures that transcend national territorial jurisdictions. Guarnizo also looks at the inherent tensions generated by global migration for sending and receiving countries, particularly the contradictory results of an increasing demand for immigrant labor and the growing anti-immigrant initiatives in the Northern Hemisphere that are attracting people. Guarnizo is co-editor of "Transnationalism From Below" (1998) and of a special issue on transnational communities of the journal Ethnic and Racial Studies (1999). Contact: Luis Guarnizo (fluent in Spanish), Human and Community Development, (530) 752-9805, leguarnizo@ucdavis.edu. PovertyAgricultural and resource economics professor Edward Taylor studies migration and its impacts on Pacific Rim countries, specifically Mexico, Central America and Ecuador. He also just finished researching the draw of Mexican immigrants into California, creating pockets of poverty throughout the Central Valley. He can talk about the reasons behind a transfer of rural poverty from Mexico into the U.S. Taylor is also an expert on salary remittances as economic multipliers, how immigration promotes survival in native villages, and other economic issues triggered by immigration. He co-wrote, with UC Davis Professor Philip Martin and Urban Institute researcher Michael Fix, a new book, "The New Rural Poverty." Contact: Ed Taylor (fluent in Spanish), Agricultural and Resource Economics, (530) 752-0213, taylor@primal.ucdavis.edu.Global migration to the U.S.Bill Ong Hing, professor of law and Asian American studies, looks at issues of undocumented immigrants who arrive from throughout the world to the United States. He has conducted extensive research on the demographics of Asian American communities in the United States and teaches courses on Asian American history as well as contemporary issues. His areas of research include the impact of changing demographics on economic, political, gender, age, social and residential traits of Asian American communities, as well as on race relations. Hing's newest book, published in 2004, is titled "Defining America Through Immigration Policy." His other books include "Making and Remaking Asian America Through Immigration Policy" (1993) and "To Be an American -- Cultural Pluralism and the Rhetoric of Assimilation" (1997). Contact: Bill Ong Hing, Law and Asian American Studies, (530) 754-9377, bhing@ucdavis.edu. Human smugglingUC Davis sociologist David Kyle can talk about the causes, organization and impacts of migrant smuggling and human trafficking, leading to contemporary slavery. Kyle says more people are enslaved today than ever before, although the practice is outlawed in every nation. He wrote "Transnational Peasants: Migrations, Networks and Ethnicity in Andean Ecuador" (2000) and co-edited "Global Human Smuggling: Comparative Perspectives" in 2001. The latter was the first scholarly book to examine migrant smuggling and human trafficking in various forms in multiple regions of the world, including Mexico-U.S. smuggling. Contact: David Kyle (fluent in Spanish), Sociology, (530) 752-1582 (work), (530) 756-2116 (home), djkyle@ucdavis.edu. Migrant caretakersUC Davis scholar Rhacel Parrenas studies migrant domestic workers, a group composed of mostly undocumented migrants, temporary labor migrants and "out of status" migrants -- those migrants whose status is in transition from undocumented to documented status. She can talk about the quest to leave poverty behind by women and men from the Philippines, Mexico, Sri Lanka, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Peru and Indonesia. She can also talk about the economic and social effects of their emigration on their families. ParreŅas, an assistant professor of Asian American studies, published "The Gender Paradox of Globalization: Children and Transnational Families in the New Economy" in 2005. Her book "Servants of Globalization" was made into the documentary "The Chain of Love." Contact: Rhacel ParreŅas, Asian American Studies Program, (530) 752-1104, rparrenas@ucdavis.edu. High school diplomasUC Davis education professor Patricia Gandara can discuss how state and federal laws affect the educational aspirations of the children of undocumented workers, as well as undocumented students themselves. She can talk about how such public policies lead directly to high dropout rates among high school students, subsequent underemployment or being on the public dole. Gandara is helping create a program that would allow undocumented college students to earn binational credit for a U.S. high school diploma with the Mexican equivalent. "The idea is that if they do return to Mexico, these educated workers can find gainful employment and need not immigrate to the U.S." Gandara directs the UC Linguistic Minority Research Institute's Education Policy Center as well as the new UC Davis Center for Applied Policy in Education. Her books include "Over the Ivy Walls, the Educational Mobility of Low Income Chicanos" and "Paving the Way to Higher Education, K-12 Interventions for Underrepresented Youth." Contact: Patricia Gandara, (fluent in Spanish), Education, (530) 752-8262, pcgandara@ucdavis.edu. Mexican history of undocumented workersEver since the U.S. created a guest worker program during World War II, Mexicans have been seeking a path to better financial security by illegally emigrating across the border. UC Davis historian Andres Resendez, who specializes in Mexico, can give historical background to why the U.S.'s southern neighbor now accounts for the greatest flow of immigrants entering the country. His new book is "Changing National Identities at the Frontier: Texas and New Mexico, 1800-1850" (2005). Contact: Andres Resendez (fluent in Spanish), History, (530) 752-0778, aresendez@ucdavis.edu. Media contacts:
Last updated May 24, 2006 |
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