5 Experts Available for Timely Analysis on Immigration Debate
The immigration debate has taken center stage in Washington DC yet again: the Trump-era health order known as Title 42 — which allowed US border officials to turn migrants back to Mexico or their home countries immediately because of the pandemic — is set to expire at midnight. Meanwhile, today House Republicans are expected to pass an immigration bill that would require construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall to resume.
For reporters covering these developments and what they mean for immigration, the following researchers are available.
Castañeda is the founding director of the Immigration Lab. He is also the author of several books, including Building Walls: Excluding Latin People in the United States. He has written for The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Hill, CityLab, and is a frequent guest on France24, Telemundo, Univision, and NTN24. He has two forthcoming books on immigration myths and Central American unaccompanied children.
Last year Heyman chaired the American Anthropological Association’s task force on border walls, whose report can be found here. He is the author of numerous accessible public essays as well as academic works, including one publication relevant to preventing entry at the border. His latest published book is Paper Trails: Migrants, Documents, and Legal Insecurity.
Matos' research interests include racial and ethnic politics, public opinion and behavior, and immigration policy. Her work has been featured in the American Behavioral Scientist; the Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal; Labor: Studies in Working-Class History; Perspectives on Politics; Politics, Groups, and Identities; and Political Research Quarterly.
Walker is a geographer whose research focuses on borders, security, and US-Mexico. She has worked with community organizations on the U.S.-Mexico border supporting economic and racial justice.
Wallace's research focuses on Latino politics, immigration politics and policy, and legislative politics. Her most recently published book is Walls, Cages, and Family Separation: Race and Immigration Policy in the Trump Era. She is currently working on a book project that examines the framing of immigration politics and policy in Congress and the conditions under which immigration legislation moves forward or stalls.