Immigrant Rights and Comprehensive Immigration Reform Resources
An excerpt from the Research Center for the Americas’ message on DACA.
Along with millions of people in this country, we support humane immigration policies informed by an understanding that the United States is a beneficiary of immigrant labor—from healthcare to food production to Silicon Valley. Permanent solutions that underscore our interconnected and interdependent realities and the human rights of immigrants are the only way forward. ¡ADELANTE!
Statement on the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 18, 2020 DACA Decision, Research Center for the Americas, UCSC
More voices from the University of California.
DACA Decision and Our Ongoing Commitment to Our Undocumented Community, Campus leaders, UCSC
UC celebrates Supreme Court win for DACA students, University of California Office of the President
A Letter to the UC Community on Today’s DACA Decision, University of California President, Chancellors, and Board of Regents Chair
Get informed.
National Thought Leaders
Cristina Jiménez Moreta
Cristina Jiménez Moreta is Executive Director & Co-founder of United We Dream (UWD), the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the country. She has been organizing in immigrant communities for over a decade and was part of UWD’s campaign team that led to the historic victory of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). (photo via macfoundation.org bio via unitedwedream.org)
Maria Gabriela “Gaby” Pacheco
Maria Gabriela (“Gaby”) Pacheco is a nationally recognized immigrant rights leader. In 2012, as political director for United We Dream, she spearheaded the efforts that led to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. (photo and bio via thedream.us)
Angelica Salas
Angelica Salas is the Director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA). Under Salas’ leadership, CHIRLA and its partners across the country have built the foundation for the recent upsurge in immigrant rights activism. (photo and bio via laane.org)
Alàn Pelaez Lopez
Alàn Pelaez Lopez is an AfroIndigenous poet, installation and adornment artist from Oaxaca, México. Their poetry has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and “Best of the Net,” and selected to appear in Best New Poets 2019 and Best American Experimental Writing 2020. (photo and bio via alanpelaez.com)
Jorge Ramos
In the absence of political representation in the United States, Jorge Ramos gives a face and voice to the millions of Latinos and immigrants living in the United States. Nearly 1.9 million viewers tune into his program each night, and in 2015, Time named him one of “The World’s 100 Most Influential People.” (photo and bio via ted.com)
Lorella Praeli
Lorella Praeli is president of Community Change Action and vice president of Community Change. She served as United We Dream’s director of Advocacy and Policy, where she led the campaign to implement DACA and was part of the team that persuaded the Obama administration to protect four million undocumented Americans through DAPA. (photo and bio via realizingdemocracy.org)
Deepak Bhargava
Deepak Bhargava is a policy expert on issues of poverty, economic justice, racial equity, and immigration, and has extensive practical experience in community organizing, leadership development, social movements, progressive strategy, issue campaigns, coalition building and voter mobilization. (photo and bio via slu.cuny.edu)
Yosimar Reyes
Yosimar Reyes is a nationally-acclaimed Poet and Public Speaker. Born in Guerrero, Mexico, and raised in Eastside San Jose, Reyes explores the themes of migration and sexuality in his work. (photo and bio via yosimarreyes.com)
Manuel Pastor
Dr. Manuel Pastor is Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. Dr. Pastor’s research has generally focused on issues of the economic, environmental and social conditions facing low-income urban communities – and the social movements seeking to change those realities. (photo and bio via dornsife.usc.edu)
Tom Jawetz
Tom Jawetz is the vice president of Immigration Policy at American Progress. Prior to joining American Progress, Tom served as chief counsel on the Immigration Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee. He has advised members of Congress and congressional staff on all areas of immigration law and policy. (photo and bio via americanprogress.org)
Reading Lists and Resources
- Immigration Project recommended Reading List (Community Action Board of Santa Cruz and Bookshop Santa Cruz collaboration)
- Understanding Immigration: A Reading List (NYU Press)
- Immigration and Migration Reading List (UC Press)
- Immigration Syllabus: UC Press Edition
- American Friends Service Committee Immigration Reading List (Compiled by Coloradans for Immigrant Rights)
- UCSC El Centro Bibliography
- EOP Resources for Undocumented Students: Updates on Actions in Support of Undocumented Students
- UCSC Undocumented Student Services (USS)
UC Santa Cruz Faculty Research
This is a growing list. Please send recommended research publications to transform@ucsc.edu
- Research Center for the Americas: Open Forum & Research Report Publications
- Buckingham, S.L., Kaur Oberoi, A., Langhout, R.D., Rubén Chávez, N., Rusch, D., Esposito, F., & Suarez-Balcazar, Y. (2018). Society for Community Research and Action Policy Paper: Statement on the Effects of Deportation and Forced Separation on Immigrants, their Families, and Communities. American Journal of Community Psychology, 62, 3-12. Policy statement prepared for the Society for Community Research & Action (APA Division 27).
- Buckingham, S.L., Langhout, R.D., Rusch, D., Mehta, T. Chávez, N.R., Ferreira van Leer, K., Oberoi, A., Indart, M., Paloma, V., King, V.E., & Olson, B. (in press). The roles of settings in supporting immigrants’ resistance to injustice and oppression: A policy position statement by the Society for Community Research and Action (APA Division 27). American Journal of Community Psychology. DOI: 10.1002/ajcp.12515
- Mize, Ronald, & Delgado, Grace Peña. (2012). Latino Immigrants in the United States. Polity Press, Cambridge, England.
- Jiménez, T., Park, J., & Pedroza, M. (2018). The New Third Generation: Post-1965 Immigration and the Next Chapter in the Long Story of Assimilation. International Migration Review 52, no. 4.
- Langhout, Regina, & Vaccarino-Ruiz, S.S. (in press). “Did I see what I really saw?” Violence, percepticide, and dangerous seeing after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid. Journal of Community Psychology. DOI: 10.1002/jcop.22336
- Pedroza, Juan Manuel. (2018). Deportation Discretion: Minority Threat and Secure Communities Deportations. Policy Studies Journal.
UC Santa Cruz Courses
If students, faculty, or staff are interested in exploring these issues more deeply, consider registering for one of the following courses (audit options may be available).
- Latin American and Latino Studies Courses
- Diversity & Inclusion Certificate Program
- Gender, Sexuality, and Transnational Migration Across the Americas (FMST 15 – 01)
- Critical Migration Studies (CRES 190B – 01)
- Immigrants and Education (EDUC 128 – 01)
- Immigration Enforcement and Deportations (SOCY 117M – 01)
- East Asian Schooling and Immigration (EDUC 170)
- South and Southeast Asian Schooling and Immigration (EDUC 171)
- Psychology of Immigration (PSYC 159I)
- Immigration, Citizenship, and Law (LGST 153)
- Sexuality, Race, and Migration in the Americas (FMST 211)
- Immigrants and Immigration in U.S. History (HIS 123)
- Asian and Latino Immigration Since 1875 (HIS 190D)
- U.S. Immigration and Ethnic History (HIS 215C)
- Immigration, Citizenship, and Law (LGST 153)
- Immigration Policy and Debate in the U.S. (POLI 135)
- The Political Economy of Race (SOCY 170P)
- Latinos/as and the American Global City (SOCY 177A)
Videos and Documentaries
Some may require subscriptions or payments.
- The Unafraid
- Ted Talks
- What’s really happening at the US-Mexico border — and how we can do better
- A wall won’t solve America’s border problems
- The psychological impact of child separation at the US-Mexico border
- An architect’s subversive reimagining of the US-Mexico border wall
- Why We Need to Stop Talking About DACA and Start Talking About Immigrants
- What we’re missing in the debate about immigration
- Immigrant voices make democracy stronger
- Our immigration conversation is broken — here’s how to have a better one
- Immigration Battle
- Beyond Borders: Undocumented Mexican Americans (PBS Version)
- Homeland: Immigration in America Series
Artists
- Reyna Grande
- Lewis Watts
- RAH Azul
- Lalo Alcaraz
- Fred Lonidier
- El Teatro Campesino (Theatre group)
- Guillermo Gómez-Peña
- Silvia Gruner
- Margarita Cabrera
- Annie Lopez
- Postcommodity
- Ricardo Santos Hernández
- Julio César Morales
- Ana Teresa Fernández
- Lalo Cota
- M. Jenea Sanchez
- Mark Klett
- Francis Alÿs
- Javier Téllez
- Griselda San Martin
- Marcos Ramírez
- Tanya Aguiñiga
Take action.
Organizations
- UCSC Chicanx Latinx Resource Center
- UCSC Undocumented Student Services (USS)
- UCSC Research Center for the Americas
- Raices
- MALDEF
- National Immigrant Justice Center
- Immigrants’ List
- National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild
- Immigration Equality (LGBTQ immigrant rights)
- FWD.us
- UnidosUS
- Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
- National Immigration Law Center
- NAACP
- Immigration Policy Institute
- Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA)
- National Immigration Forum
- Migration Policy Institute
- United We Dream
- TheDream.Us
- Center for American Progress
- FIRM (Fair Immigration Reform Movement)
- UC Immigration Legal Service Center
- Community Action Board – Santa Cruz Immigration Project (SCCIP)
- Immigrant Legal Services of the Central Coast (ILSCC)
- Community Information for Migrant Assistance (CIMA)
- Watsonville Law Center
- Catholic Charities of the Central Coast
- Sanctuary Santa Cruz
- Davenport Resource Service Center
Contact Your Representative
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If you have additional immigrant rights or comprehensive immigration reform resources to include on this page please send us an email.