Summary
The Institute for Immigration Research (IIR) is a multidisciplinary research institute at George Mason University. The IIR’s mission is to produce valid, reliable, and objective multidisciplinary research on immigrants and immigration to the United States and to disseminate this information through peer-reviewed academic journals, as well as in print and digital formats that make this research easily accessible to policy-makers, the media, the business community, and the general public.
IIR Director is James Witte.
Our faculty affiliates, graduate students, and partners are at the forefront of immigration research. The IIR produces high quality, timely research and analysis that examines the economic contributions of all immigrants in the United States, with a particular emphasis on immigrant entrepreneurs with high levels of education and skills.
The IIR is a joint venture between George Mason University and The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc. (ILC) of Massachusetts. The IIR was founded in 2012 through the generous donation of Ms. Diane Portnoy, educator and philanthropist from Malden, Massachusetts.
The IIR is located on the campus of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, outside the nation’s capital, Washington, DC. Its strategic location allows the IIR to draw on unparalleled academic, government, and private resources to advance its mission in research, education, and professional opportunities for current and future scholars of immigration studies. Through conferences, workshops, lectures, and other events, the IIR is able to engage in community outreach with one of the most diverse populations in the United States.
OnAir Post: IIR – Institute for Immigration Research
News
Congratulations to Dr. Roberta Spalter-Roth, faculty affiliate with the Institute for Immigration Research and Center for Social Science Research, for being named winner of the 2023 Stuart A. Rice Merit Award for Career Achievement from the District of Columbia Sociological Society (DCSS). The 2023 DCSS Awards Banquet will be held on May 18, 2023. Information about tickets can be found at https://dcsociologicalsociety.org/event-5268350.
According to the DCSS, the Stuart A. Rice Merit Award is presented to a distinguished senior member of the Society who has made a significant contribution to the discipline, and are judged on their collective accomplishments over the course of their professional careers. Dr. Spalter-Roth’s list of achievements and contributions to sociology spans decades of hard work and dedication. Congratulations, Dr. Spalter-Roth!
Labor shortages apply upward pressure to wages and thus prices
IIR Faculty Affiliate, Dr. Justin Gest, has published a Wall Street Journal commentary titled: “How Immigrants Tame Inflation: Labor shortages apply upward pressure to wages and thus prices.” The opinion piece draws on Gest’s research, which is also detailed in a Fwd.us report: “To lower inflation, America needs more immigration to alleviate national labor shortages.”
Blake R. Silver, Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, received $1,947 from the American College Personnel Association for the project: “Layered Transitions: First-Generation College Seniors from Immigrant Families.” With the support of collaborators Tharuna Kalaivanan, Fanni Farago, and Kellie Wilkerson, Mason doctoral students studying sociology, this project will explore the experiences of students who are both children of immigrants and the first in their families to pursue a bachelor’s degree. In-depth interviews will be analyzed to understand the resources FGC students from immigrant families bring to the senior-year transition and how these resources shape strategies for navigating the transition.
Exploring these topics will contribute both to building sociological theory as well as to policy and practice in higher education, with implications for supporting student success for first-generation college seniors from immigrant families.
This funding began in Dec. 2022 and will end in late Nov. 2023.
About
The IIR debunks myths and disseminates factual information about immigrants and immigration.The IIR is joint venture with The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc.(ILC) of Malden, Massachusetts.
IIR Advisory Board
The IIR benefits from the leadership of an Advisory Board of dedicated individuals from academia, education, law, and immigration policy. The current IIR Board Membership is listed below.
- Ann Ardis, Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, George Mason University (Co-chair)
- Frank Bailey, Retired federal bankruptcy judge for the U.S. bankruptcy court, District of Massachusetts
- Aldo Bello, Executive VP and Chief Creative Officer, Mind & Media, Inc.
- Hudaidah Bhimdi, Attorney, Bhimdi Global Immigration PLLC
- Jack Censer, Former Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, George Mason University
- Dan Houser, Professor of Economics, George Mason University
- Ariana Monterroza, Regional Marketing Specialist, Truist
- Alex Nowrasteh, Director of Economic and Social Policy Studies, Cato Institute
- Diane Portnoy, Founder and CEO of The Immigrant Learning Center (Co-chair)
- Vince Rivers, Executive Director of The Immigrant Learning Center
IIR Faculty Affiliates
The IIR’s faculty affiliates work with IIR staff and graduate students in several ways: 1) they serve as moderators and speakers for IIR events; 2) they provide professional development to IIR graduate students by presenting at staff meetings and other special events; 3) they help to disseminate information about IIR publications and events to their students and networks and through social media; 4) they invite IIR staff to guest lecture in their classes; 5) they co-author papers with IIR staff; 6) they write short immigration-related papers for the IIR (these are posted on our website); and 7) they advertise their affiliation with the IIR when they speak publicly.
Contact
Email: School
Locations
The Institute for Immigration Research
4400 University Drive, MSN 1D7
Fairfax, VA 22030
Phone: (703) 993-8544
Web Links
Immigration Data on Demand
iDod: Data on immigrants, customized for you
Immigration Data on Demand (iDod) provides academics, policy-makers, and the public with unbiased and objective information related to immigrants and immigration in the United States. This service is intended to help individuals and institutions examine the immigrant populations of their particular geography.
iDod fact sheets demonstrate how immigrants contribute to the economy and society of the United States. Ultimately, the goal of iDod is to connect people with accurate data on immigrant populations. If you are interested in receiving data, please fill out an iDod Request Form.
Unlike many available services, iDod provides this data free of charge and will personalize each request. For more information, browse our Terms & Conditions and library of previously produced fact sheets and spreadsheets.
We now offer you a choice! You can receive your data as:
- a fact sheet with data, maps, charts, and analysis OR
- an Excel spreadsheet with your data in a format that you can adapt for your own purposes
NOTE: We occasionally receive requests from students who want to use iDod to complete a homework assignment. The IIR is dedicated to providing the next generation of immigration scholars with the tools they need to conduct research into immigrant communities. We will not do students’ assignments for them, but we can provide the information they need to perform the work themselves.
Please contact us at iir@gmu.edu with any questions or comments.
Recent Partners
Alaska
AEL Family Welcome Center (Anchorage School District)
California
East Region Adult Education, a CAEP consortium
Maryland
Anne Arundel Community College – English Language Learning Department
Baltimore City Community College
Solutions in Hometown Connections
Washington County Teachers Association
Ohio
City of Dayton Human Relations Council – Welcome Dayton Initiative
Research Overview
The Institute for Immigration Research (IIR) conducts original, multidisciplinary academic research to educate the public about the positive impact immigrants have on the country, the economy, and our communities. Factual data on immigration is more important than ever before due to the current political climate, the deeply divisive rhetoric surrounding immigration, and the myths and misinformation surrounding the issue. The important economic and social aspects of immigration are often ignored. Through our work, the IIR seeks to address empty rhetoric and inject factual information into the national immigration debate.
Beginning in 2020, the IIR conducted an ambitious survey project aimed at understanding how Americans feel about immigrants and why. We surveyed approximately 600 respondents in each of seven metropolitan areas: Baltimore-Washington, Boston, Detroit, Miami, Philadelphia, San Jose, and Seattle. All surveys were conducted online.
Surveys were conducted between late 2020 and summer 2021 with a focus on three issues:
- The frequency and quality of contact with specific immigrant groups
- Attitudes about immigrants and immigration in general
- Views on the role played by immigrants during the COVID-19 pandemic
The main finding is: Frequent and friendly local contact with any immigrants is associated with a lower likelihood that an individual sees immigration in the United States as a whole as a problem.
The implication for immigrant advocacy groups is clear: think about how to create local opportunities for frequent and friendly interaction as these can lead to changing views on immigrants at the national level.
Click on each of the seven cities to learn the results:
Boston | DC/MD/VA | Detroit | Miami
|
Philadelphia | San Jose | Seattle |
Methodology and Note on Race and Ethnicity
Reported results are weighted to account for any differences in the demographic characteristics of the survey sample and the makeup of the metro area based on U.S. Census Bureau 2020 5-year data. The U.S. Census Bureau typically asks respondents to separately report their race and whether or not they are Hispanic. Hispanics can be of any race and often selected “other” for race. We follow that convention: respondents were asked to separately report their race and if they were Hispanic. In the results, we compare the frequency and quality of interaction that people have with native-born persons based on their race and with foreign-born individuals according to their race and whether or not they are Hispanic. These patterns of interaction are then broken out according to the race of the respondent, and Hispanics are included in their race category.
Similarly, where Asians are a relatively small part of the population, Asians are included with the “other” race group. However, in San Jose and Seattle, where the Asian populations make up a larger share of the population, Asian is treated as a separate race category.
Based on the sample size of approximately 600 persons for each metropolitan area, we could not always report results that consistently differentiated by race and ethnicity. The table below provides insight into how these patterns vary by each of the metropolitan areas.
Metropolitan Areas by Race and Hispanic Ethnicity Combined
| Balt.-DC | Boston | Detroit | Miami | Philadelphia | San Jose | Seattle | |
| White | 40% | 70% | 65% | 30% | 61% | 32% | 62% |
| Black | 26% | 7% | 22% | 20% | 20% | 2% | 6% |
| Native American | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% |
| Asian | 12% | 8% | 5% | 2% | 6% | 36% | 14% |
| Pacific Islander | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% |
| Two or more races | 4% | 4% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 4% | 6% |
| Hispanic | 18% | 11% | 5% | 45% | 10% | 26% | 10% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Source: Baltimore-DC, Boston, Detroit, Miami, Philadelphia, San Jose, Seattle
Understanding Americans’ Attitudes Towards Immigrants: An Overview
Understanding Americans’ Attitudes Towards Immigrants: An Overview
Beginning in 2020, the IIR conducted an ambitious survey project aimed at understanding how Americans feel about immigrants and why. We surveyed approximately 600 respondents in each of seven metropolitan areas: Baltimore-Washington, Boston, Detroit, Miami, Philadelphia, San Jose, and Seattle. All surveys were conducted online.
Surveys were conducted between late 2020 and summer 2021 with a focus on three issues:
- The frequency and quality of contact with specific immigrant groups
- Attitudes about immigrants and immigration in general
- Views on the role played by immigrants during the COVID-19 pandemic
The main finding is: Frequent and friendly local contact with any immigrants is associated with a lower likelihood that an individual sees immigration in the United States as a whole as a problem.
The implication for immigrant advocacy groups is clear: think about how to create local opportunities for frequent and friendly interaction as these can lead to changing views on immigrants at the national level.
Click on each of the seven cities to learn the results:
Boston | DC/MD/VA | Detroit | Miami
|
Philadelphia | San Jose | Seattle |
Methodology and Note on Race and Ethnicity
Reported results are weighted to account for any differences in the demographic characteristics of the survey sample and the makeup of the metro area based on U.S. Census Bureau 2020 5-year data. The U.S. Census Bureau typically asks respondents to separately report their race and whether or not they are Hispanic. Hispanics can be of any race and often selected “other” for race. We follow that convention: respondents were asked to separately report their race and if they were Hispanic. In the results, we compare the frequency and quality of interaction that people have with native-born persons based on their race and with foreign-born individuals according to their race and whether or not they are Hispanic. These patterns of interaction are then broken out according to the race of the respondent, and Hispanics are included in their race category.
Similarly, where Asians are a relatively small part of the population, Asians are included with the “other” race group. However, in San Jose and Seattle, where the Asian populations make up a larger share of the population, Asian is treated as a separate race category.
Based on the sample size of approximately 600 persons for each metropolitan area, we could not always report results that consistently differentiated by race and ethnicity. The table below provides insight into how these patterns vary by each of the metropolitan areas.
Metropolitan Areas by Race and Hispanic Ethnicity Combined
| Balt.-DC | Boston | Detroit | Miami | Philadelphia | San Jose | Seattle | |
| White | 40% | 70% | 65% | 30% | 61% | 32% | 62% |
| Black | 26% | 7% | 22% | 20% | 20% | 2% | 6% |
| Native American | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% |
| Asian | 12% | 8% | 5% | 2% | 6% | 36% | 14% |
| Pacific Islander | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% |
| Two or more races | 4% | 4% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 4% | 6% |
| Hispanic | 18% | 11% | 5% | 45% | 10% | 26% | 10% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Source: Baltimore-DC, Boston, Detroit, Miami, Philadelphia, San Jose, Seattle
Refugees and Asylees
The World Refugee Population and Annual U.S. Refugee Admissions
by Eirini Giannaraki, Graduate Research Assistant, IIR
Refugee admissions to the United States have dropped sharply in the last three years. In FY 2016, 84,995 refugees were admitted in the United States. Since then, the number of refugee admissions has decreased by 65 percent. In FY 2017, 53,716 individuals were resettled in the United States, whereas in FY 2018 the total number of admissions was 22,491. In FY2019, only 30,000 were admitted.
On November 1, 2019, the Trump administration released the Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for FY 2020 when the United States will admit up to 18,000 refugees – marking a historic low and threatening to further shrink the refugee resettlement program. In the first month of FY 2019, the U.S. received zero refugees, which had never happened in the thirty years that the resettlement program has existed.
Read the new article here.
The Experiences of Migrant Women and Human Smuggling
by Carol Cleaveland and Vicki Kirsch, Department of Social Work, George Mason University
The news is filled with accounts of women and children from Central America arriving at the U.S. border and seeking asylum. While we are learning a great deal about their struggles once they arrive at the southern border, far less is known about their journey from Central America to the United States. Government statistics show that many women are migrating with their children, and the number of families apprehended at the border has increased in recent years. Many of these women rely on human smugglers to transport them and their children across Mexico to the U.S. border. This research revealed the reality of human smuggling from the perspective of migrant women from Central America. Their testimony and experiences can teach us about the trauma they face during migration and how it continues to impact them when they arrive in the United States.
Click here to read the report.
This version is adapted from an article that appeared in Qualitative Social Work, April 2019.
IIR Research by Industry
Immigrant Essential Workers
Education
Media & Entertainment
Transportation
Sports
STEM & Research
Public Administration
Health Care & Pharmaceutical
Immigrants, Athletes, and Inclusion
To what degree can immigrant athletes use their visibility and influence to extend the spirit of inclusiveness and equality to the Newest Americans?
Immigrants are a growing share of professional sports in the US.
Today, approximately 14% of the U.S. population is foreign-born, and that share has been growing. However, in many professional sports are represented to a far greater extent: in 2019, more than one-quarter of Major League Baseball (MLB) players and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) players, 21 percent of National Basketball Association (NBA) players, and more than half of Major League Soccer (MLS) players were born outside the United States.
Foreign-born athletes are among the very best in their sport.
For example, in 2021, the American League’s Most Valuable Player was Shohei Ohtani, who is Japanese, while the NBA’s MVP was Serbian player Nikola Jokic. During the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, newly naturalized citizen Kaillie Humphries won gold for the United States in bobsledding, while immigrants Jay Litherland, Paul Chelimo, and Catarina Macario all won medals for TeamUSA in Tokyo in 2021.
The Immigrants, Athletes, and Inclusion Initiative
This initiative aims to study immigration and inclusion in sports through original, data-driven research on the contributions of immigrants in professional and collegiate sports. We examine inclusion in two ways: 1) the degree to which immigrant athletes are represented in sports; and 2) how highlighting the stories and contributions of immigrant athletes can lead to greater understanding and inclusion of immigrants generally.
Immigrant Nobel Prize Laureates
The 2022 Nobel Laureates: International Collaboration & Groundbreaking Knowledge Production
In 2022, there are no immigrant Nobel Laureates from the United States, a notable exception to the rule for over a decade. Since 2010, the Nobel Foundation has awarded prizes to 28 immigrant Laureates in the United States. Immigrants to the United States, a typically overlooked group of awardees, comprise a considerable share (15%) of all Nobel Laureates awarded since 1901. These 148 immigrant individuals to date, have made lasting contributions across all six Nobel Prize fields, achievements which will continue to benefit humankind for decades to come. In 2022, it is noteworthy that three of the Laureates are foreign-born individuals who have significant experience internationally collaborating with U.S. based scientists through professional activities such as co-authored publications, postdoctoral research positions, or visiting professorships.
Five of the 2021 Nobel Laureates from the United States are Foreign Born
The 2021 Nobel Prize winners have been announced, and this year seven of the 13 winners were from the United States, and among them, five of the U.S. winners were not born in the United States. Since 2010, there have been 28 foreign-born U.S. winners. Since 1901, there have been 148 were foreign born individuals who either immigrated permanently to the United States or were at a U.S. institution of higher learning at the time they received the award. These 148 individuals account for 16 percent of all Nobel Laureates.
Leading Through Creativity and Innovation: The 2020 Nobel Laureates, MacArthur and Schmidt Science Fellows, and Immigrant Scientists in Search of a COVID-19 Vaccine
In 2020, none of the Nobel Prize winners from the United States are foreign-born individuals. However, four of this year’s 12 Laureates are foreign born and have been associated with U.S. research institutions or universities at some point in their careers. In addition, four of the 21 MacArthur Fellows and at least four of the 22 Schmidt Science Fellows are foreign born and living in the United States. Moreover, immigrants are among the scientists and researchers working to find a COVID-19 vaccine. This report profiles all of these high-achieving immigrants.
The 2019 Foreign-Born Nobel Prize Winners in the United States
The Nobel Prize is awarded to extraordinary individuals who accomplish work in their lifetime that demonstrates an effort to benefit humankind. In 2019, 50% of Nobel Prize winners from the U.S. were foreign-born. These four outstanding individuals won the Nobel in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, and Economic Sciences. Since the first award was presented in 1901, 34% of all winners
Twitter Analysis
This project tracks discussion relating to immigration on twitter with a particular emphasis on comprehensive immigration reform. Since February 2013, we have collected nearly 3 million tweets containing the word “immigration.” Using DiscoverText and NodeXL, two different data mining applications, we analyzed these tweets to examine who is talking to whom, what they’re talking about, and how these conversations are changing over time. We also identified “clusters” of five major groups of influential tweeters and tracked how, when, and why Twitter users change their mind about immigration by examining their relationship to these clusters over time. These five major groups are: Mainstream, Reformers, Progressive Media, Institutional Conservatives, and the Tea Party. Below we reveal and describe these five types of “power tweeters.” Further below you will find links to up-to-date articles published in the Huffington Post pertaining to IIR’s Twitter Analysis project.
The Reformers: This group is dominated by pro-reform individuals and organizations. These include organizations that embrace a variety of other progressive causes, such as the Human Rights Watch, as well as several that specialize in immigration only. Although they tend to have fewer followers overall (as indicated by the smaller images in the figure below), they are influential tweeters about immigration because of their greater focus on that issue. image 4 of 10previousnextclose
For a detailed discussion on these “power tweeters” and other findings check out IIR’s latest articles “Immigration Reform Power Tweeters: Part 1” and “Immigration Reform Power Tweeters: Part 2”
For our recent analysis on how Twitter discussions on immigration had changed following the Boston Marathon bombings, click http://huff.to/16pQXNw
Fiscal and Economic Contributions of Immigrants
Perspectives on Immigration Reform Podcast: A Compassionate Look at Family Immigration
The number of green cards currently available each year is the same number we’ve been using since 1990. Listen as Michele Waslin, Program Coordinator at the Institute for Immigration Research at George Mason University talks with Perspectives on Immigration Reform about the problems with the current system and what must be done to remedy it.
APRIL 23, 2018
A Profile of Immigrants from Travel Ban-Affected Countries the United States
The data show that immigrants from the travel ban-affected countries are typically employed, highly educated, have high incomes, are homeowners, and make economic contributions to the United States. While the social and economic contributions made by these immigrants did not occur over night, with time these immigrants overcame challenges to make significant contributions to the United States. All of this suggests that barring future nationals from these countries could have a negative economic and social impact on the United States.
Examining the fiscal contribution of foreign-born and native-born households in the U.S.
This research brief examines the fiscal contribution of foreign-born and native-born households in the United States. This examination is accomplished by comparing income tax contributions and social assistance expenditures within and between each household group.
Dependents and Dependency: Immigrants and the Future of the U.S. Economy
By using national survey data, this report explores the social location (by age and sex) of immigrants and analyzes how they factor into dependencies and dependency ratio calculations in the United States. We find that, in general, immigrants in the United States are less dependent and therefore make greater socioeconomic contributions in comparison to native-born citizens.
Immigrant Integration
Plyler v. Doe: Implementation, Challenges, and Implications for the Futureby Amanda WarnerAugust 2022 | In 1982, in Plyler v. Doe, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas law denying school enrollment to undocumented immigrant school children, thereby ensuring a free K-12 public education for all students regardless of immigration status. Today, some Americans want to overturn Plyler, and some scholars believe that the official opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, laid a foundation for an impending Plyler challenge. This paper reviews the Plyler decision, focuses on continuing barriers to education faced by undocumented students, and examines the potential impact of overturning Plyler. Click here to read the full report Click here to read the Plyler v Doe Q & A |
Views of Immigrants in the Contemporary United StatesbyJames C. Witte, Ismail Nooraddini, and Cassius Modiasan Hossfeld
April 2022 | This project examines attitudes towards immigrants in seven U.S. cities: Baltimore/DC Metro Area, Boston, Detroit, Miami, Philadelphia, San Jose, and Seattle. The results show that more frequent contact with immigrants at the local level may be a key to changing views about immigration nationally. Also, Republicans and Fox News viewers are more likely to see immigration as a problem both locally and nationally, and reaching these populations is important to changing attitudes toward immigration. If you would like to see results for individual metropolitan areas, contact us at IIR@gmu.edu.
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The Impact of Quantity and Quality of Interaction on Attitudes towards Immigrants: A Survey of Residents in the Washington and Baltimore Metropolitan Areasby Ismail Nooraddini andJames C. WitteInstitute for Immigration Research, George Mason University | The survey of the Impact of Quantity and Quality of Interaction on Attitudes towards Immigrants (IQQIAI) was designed in early 2020 to help researchers and policymakers understand the puzzling disconnect between public opinion towards immigrants—which has become increasingly positive— and federal immigration policy—which became increasingly anti-immigrant—especially during the Trump administration. The survey focuses on how public opinion is shaped; particularly by day-to-day contact with recent immigrants, but also by media sources, friendship patterns, and individual demographic characteristics. The COVID-19 pandemic, the political turmoil, social unrest, and economic upheaval of the past year make it critical that we better understand the views of a vocal minority who hold negative attitudes towards New Americans and oppose efforts by policymakers to pass policies to facilitate the integration of New Americans. This study is based on a sample of 662 adult respondents drawn from the Washington and Baltimore Metropolitan areas, but the findings also have national implications. Data was collected in late November and early December 2020. The survey margin of error is +/- 3.8%. Survey items cover the following themes:
Click here for full report. |
The Experiences of Migrant Women and Human Smugglingby Carol Cleaveland and Vicki Kirsch, Department of Social Work, George Mason University
| This research revealed the reality of human smuggling from the perspective of migrant women from Central America. Their testimony and experiences can teach us about the trauma they face during migration and how it continues to impact them when they arrive in the United States. Click here to read the report. This version is adapted from an article that appeared in Qualitative Social Work, April 2019. |
| Steps to Success: Integrating Immigrant Professionals in the United States is a report by the Institute for Immigration Research in collaboration with IMPRINT and WES Global Talent Bridge. This report details the experiences of college-educated immigrants in six U.S. cities; Boston, Detroit, Miami, Philadelphia, San Jose and Seattle. Our first-of-its-kind study documents multiple factors that correlate with the successful integration of immigrant professionals into the U.S. workforce and our communities. Steps to Success draws from the survey responses of more than 4,000 college-educated immigrants living in the United States, identifies factors that correlate with their successful integration into American life and offers recommendations for communities to better integrate these skilled workers, and take advantage of their many talents. For a FREE copy of this report please Click here. |
Immigrants and Crime
Arrest Rates by County in Virginia, 2015
In 2015 there were an estimated 8.3 million individuals living in the state of Virginia and an estimated 268,000 arrests (including individuals who were arrested multiple times), yielding a ratio of arrests to the population of 3.2%. As shown in the maps to the left, areas where the proportion of immigrants is high are also areas where the arrest rate is low. Where the proportion of immigrants is low, the arrest rate is high. Across the state regardless of county, there is no correlation between the proportion of foreign-born individuals living in an area and arrest rate.
People
B
Amy L Best
Professor
Education, social inequalities, youth, identity and intersectionality, children’s health, community sociology, micro sociology, cultural sociology, sociology of everyday life, consumer markets and commercial life, sociology of food, farm to school, food access and food insecurity, feminist and qualitative approaches to social research, ethnography, program evaluation
C
Bryan D Caplan
Professor
Public economics, public choice, psychology and economics, economics of the family
Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera
University Affiliate
Professor
Mexico-U.S. relations, organized crime, immigration, border security, and human trafficking
D
Michelle Dromgold-Sermen
Assistant Director
Instructor
U.S. immigration law and policy; legality, citizenship, membership, and belonging; immigrant incorporation; refugee resettlement; global migration management; Middle East migration
F
Fanni Farago
Graduate Research Assistant
sociology of education, immigration, life course transitions, emotions, health, applied sociology, and mixed-methods research
G
Benjamin Gatling
Associate Professor
narrative, performance, the ethnography of communication, Persianate oral traditions, Islam, Central Asia and the Middle East
Justin Gest
Associate Professor
Immigration policy, minority political behavior, comparative immigration politics
Eirini Giannaraki
Graduate Research Assistant
Sociology: Globalization, forced migration, mixed methods research, refugee integration
Lisa Gilman
Professor
Folklore, music, dance, public humanities, performance studies, African Studies, women’s and gender studies, migration, war, politics and culture, ethnographic fieldwork, filmmaking, digital storytelling.
Lisa Gring-Pemble
University Affiliate
Associate Professor
Social impact, innovation, and entrepreneurship; Rhetorical criticism, argument, persuasion; Political communication and public policy
H
Steve A. Harris-Scott
Instructor
Research: Colonial Virginia, Early Modern Atlantic World, bound/unfree labor (slavery, indentured servitude, apprenticeship), environmental history and history of diseases/pandemics
K
Katie Kerstetter
Affiliate Faculty
poverty and inequality, education, health disparities, and community-based and participatory approaches to research
Dae Young Kim
Associate Professor
Immigration, ethnicity, race, Asian American studies, and globalization
L
Brian Louis Levy
Assistant Professor
Inequality, Poverty, Mobility; Neighborhoods; Community and Urban Sociology; Race, Class, and Gender; Education; Social Demography; Quantitative Research Methods; Causal Inference
Zikun Li
Graduate Research Assistant
sport for development and peace (SDP), globalization of sport, sport and immigration & refugees
M
Charlie Meyer
Graduate Research Assistant
study of folklore, immigration, qualitative research, effects of family roles, performance of gender
N
Ismail Nooraddini
Graduate Research Assistant
Quantitative and qualitative research methods, family and adolescence, immigration, and gender.
P
Kevin Nazar Pastor
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Sociology of Globalization, Transnationalism, Human Rights, Sociology of Development, International Politics, Social Movements, Migration, Latin America and US International Relations, Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, The Collective Unconscious
R
Katharine Rupp
Office Manager
S
Nishit Sahay
Affiliate Faculty
Immigrant’s issues, Immigration Reforms and American Values, Contributions of diasporas in US Society and Economy, Social Science and Globalization, Public-Private sector’s engagements to mitigate institutional issues hampering economic growth, Policy towards Industry 4.0
Blake Silver
Assistant Professor
Higher education; inequality and mobility; culture; race, class, and gender; parent and family involvement in education; transition to adulthood; research methods; second-generation immigrant students
Roberta Spalter-Roth
Senior Research Fellow
T
Susan R Trencher
Associate Professor
American culture, the anthropology of anthropology, sociology of knowledge, anthropological theory and practice, and the history of anthropology
W
Wenjing Wang
Postdoctoral Fellow
Anthropology: Social Complexity and Inequality, Social Interaction, Regional Demographic Analysis, Population Centralization and Decentralization, Quantitative and Spatial Analysis
Amanda Warner
Graduate Research Assistant
Critical Race Theory; Immigration and Global Migration, Paradigms of systemic inequality, Colonialism; Applied Sociology
Michele Waslin
Affiliate Faculty
immigration policy, gender-based asylum, federalism, executive authority
Kellie Wilkerson
Graduate Research Assistant
Applied Sociology/Evaluation Research, Globalization, Sociology of Education, Statistics/Quantitative Methodology
James Witte
Director
Professor
Use of the world wide web to collect survey data, comparison of online and off line societies, immigration, Pakistan
Z
Andrea K Zach
Assistant Professor
Political economy, German contemporary films, critical theory, immigration, theories of nationalism & citizenship.
