Current Projects
Immigration to New York City
The Immigration to NYC project began in December of 2024. This study consists of over 200 in-depth interviews with recently arrived migrants who reside in New York City. These include migrants from Ecuador, Senegal, Guatemala, and Venezuela. These interviews shed light on migration drivers, migration journey, and integration challenges related to healthcare access, employment, and housing.
Immigration to DC, Maryland, & Virginia
The Immigration to the DMV study runs over multiple years and consists of 233 interviews focused on new arrivals from different nationalities, analyzing their motives for migrating, migration journey, and integration to the US (education, healthcare, employment).
Immigration to El Paso
The Immigration to El Paso project focuses on 17 participants who are recent arrivals to the city. They were interviewed by a charity about their countries of origins, migration journeys, identity, and experiences with accessible resources.
Upcoming Book on Youth Migration: Un Montón de Sueños (A Mountain of Dreams)
Un Montón de Sueños (A Mountain of Dreams) is a book that examines the lives of nineteen young adults in the same DC-area community who arrived as children during the 2019-2022 surge in unaccompanied minors at the US/MX border. Through a series of in-depth interviews, each participant tells a different story about their shared community. They begin in their childhood homes, before migration was ever considered. They recount the dangerous journey they took as children and the hopes that they carried with them, before reflecting on their years in the United States. Their shared community is shaped by their individual personalities and decisions, and their reflections on shared friendships, soccer leagues, classrooms, and churches offer varying perspectives on what the 'American Dream' really means today.
AU Immigration: Impacted
AU Immigration: Impacted is a collaboration with American University's Washington College of Law AU Dream Initiative. Together, we have conducted 54 in-depth interviews with undergraduate and graduate students at American University who are children of immigrants or immigrants themselves. This study highlights the experiences of students at American University who are impacted by immigration policies today.
Sexual and Reproductive Health Study
The purpose of the Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) study is to better understand the sexual and reproductive health, healthcare access, and knowledge of refugees and immigrants. This project includes 20 interviews with migrant women in the United States and 10 migrant women in the United Kingdom.
Hispanic Health Paradox: Social Determinants of Health Among Latinos in El Paso, TX
The Hispanic Health Paradox explores why health outcomes among Hispanics seem better than demographically expected based on socio-economic status. For this project, we are finishing a book entitled The Hispanic Health Paradox: Social Determinants of Health among Latinos. This book analyzes existing health disparities among Latinos in the majority Mexican-American city of El Paso, Texas, and draws on data gathered with a National Institute of Health grant. We have also published several op-eds and a prescient report about health disparities and how El Paso's Hispanic population was at higher risk of dying from COVID-19.
Reuniting Families: Central American Minors between Family Separation and Reunification
Unaccompanied minors from Central America coming to the border has become an increasingly salient topic in the news and media, but little is known about how they fare once they settle in the United States. Reunited: Family Separation and Central American Youth Migration catalogs the experiences and narratives of unaccompanied Central American youth settled in the DC area. It follows several individuals from this hard-to-reach population using original data gathered in 2017. We have published op-eds using this data, and we are also working on a book chapter in Spanish on the topic and a journal article on migration and trauma.