Tom K. Wong
Associate Professor of Political Science, University of California, San Diego
Chapter Member: San Diego SSN
Areas of Expertise:
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About Tom
Wong is an associate professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego and recently served as an advisor to the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders under the Obama administration. He is also Director of the International Migration Studies Program minor. Wong's research focuses on the politics of immigration, citizenship, and migrant "illegality." As these issues have far-reaching implications, his work also explores the links between immigration, race and ethnicity, and the politics of identity.
Contributions
No Jargon Podcast
In the News
Opinion: "Opinion: Surveys Show DACA Recipients Benefit From Better Financial Security, Labor Outcomes," Tom K. Wong, The San Diego Union-Tribune, October 17, 2023.
Opinion: "The Migrant ‘Surge’ at the U.S. Southern Border Is Actually a Predictable Pattern," Tom K. Wong (with ), Monkey Cage Analysis, The Washington Post, March 25, 2021.
Research discussed by , in "She Didn’t Apply for DACA. Now She and Thousands of Dreamers are Heading toward Limbo," Dallas News, January 27, 2019.
Research discussed by , in "DACA Recipients Making Significant Contributions to National Economy," KStar, August 17, 2018.
Research discussed by , in "DACA is Really Helping Young Immigrants. But Are They Too Afraid, Unsure to Renew?," MSNBC, August 16, 2018.
Quoted by Andrew Keatts in "If Sam Abed is Right About Sanctuary Policies, San Diego Law Enforcement Leaders are Peddling ‘Fake News’," Voice of San Diego, May 18, 2018.
Quoted by Michael Smolens in "Why It Seems Like Jerry Brown is Running for Office — in Your Town," The San Diego Union-Tribune, April 29, 2018.
Guest on KPBS Midday, April 26, 2018.
Quoted by Anne Belden in "A Piece of Paper is Controlling My Students’ Lives," HuffPost, March 1, 2018.
Quoted by Dara Lind in "Trump Chief of Staff: Immigrants Who Didn’t Apply for DACA were 'too lazy to get off their asses'," Vox, February 6, 2018.
Quoted by Maya Srikrishnan in "Border Report: Haitian Community Describes Growing Fear and Uncertainty," Voice of San Diego, November 27, 2017.
Research discussed by , in "Rep. Bomgar, Businessmen: DACA Has 'Huge Economic Benefit'," Jackson Free Press, October 5, 2017.
Research discussed by , in "What DACA's End Could Mean for Colleges," The Atlantic, September 18, 2017.
Quoted by Meghan Holmes in "Under Threat of Deportation, Dreamers Speak Out," Louisiana Weekly, September 18, 2017.
Guest on North Carolina Public Radio, February 16, 2017.
Research discussed by , in "Sanctuary Counties Have Lower Crime, Stronger Economies," San Diego Union-Tribune, January 27, 2017.
Research discussed by , in "Trump Says Sanctuary Cities are Hotbeds of Crime. Data Say the Opposite.," The Washington Post, January 27, 2017.
Quoted by Kate Morrissey in "Accused of Being an Immigrant 'Sanctuary,' San Diego Could Lose Funding under Trump," San Diego Union-Tribune, November 28, 2016.
Quoted by Leonard Novarro in "DACA Can Spell Hope for Many Undocumented Immigrants," Times of San Diego, October 25, 2016.
Research discussed by , in "Study Finds Positive Economic Impact from Deferred Action Program," San Diego Union-Tribune, October 18, 2016.
Quoted by Dan Moffett in "Survey Proves Success of Obama's DACA Program," About News, September 27, 2015.
Guest on KPBS, July 9, 2015.
Interviewed in "Immigration Reform Predictions are Mathematical and Personal," Los Angeles Times, July 30, 2013.
Interviewed in "Path to 218: Why One Political Scientist is Skeptical the House Will Get the Votes to Pass Immigration Reform," ABC News' "Power Players", July 9, 2013.
Research discussed by , in "Reforma Migratoria en la Cámara de Representantes," Univision Noticias, July 8, 2013.
Research discussed by , in "As U.S. Plugs Border in Arizona, Crossings Shifts to South Texas," New York Times, June 16, 2013.
Interviewed in "Forecast: If Voted on Today, Immigration Reform Would Fail House," Public Insight Network’s Fronteras, May 21, 2013.
Interviewed in "Predicting How Congress Will Vote on Immigration Reform," KPCC’s Take Two, May 20, 2013.
Interviewed in "Tom K. Wong on Life as an Undocumented Youth," KPBS’s Hey Neighbor!, January 9, 2013.
Opinion: "Obama’s Immigration Move Bold, But Not Enough," Tom K. Wong, San Diego Union Tribune, June 16, 2012.
Publications
The Politics of Immigration: Partisanship, Demographic Change, and American National Identity (Oxford University Press, forthcoming).
Analyzes immigration-related legislation in Congress since 2005.
Do Family Separation and Detention Deter Immigration?Do Family Separation and Detention Deter Immigration?
Shows that both family detention and family separation policies have not deterred families from coming to the United States in the past—and are unlikely to do so in the future.
, Center for American Progress, 2018-07-24.Statistical Analysis Shows that Violence, Not Deferred Action, is Behind the Surge of Unaccompanied Children Crossing the BorderStatistical Analysis Shows that Violence, Not Deferred Action, is Behind the Surge of Unaccompanied Children Crossing the Border Center for American Progress, 2014.
Presents statistical analysis indicating that violence, not deferred action, is behind the surge of unaccompanied children crossing the border.
Results from a Nationwide Survey of DACA Recipients Illustrate the Program’s ImpactResults from a Nationwide Survey of DACA Recipients Illustrate the Program’s Impact National Immigration Law Center, July 2015.
Analyzes the economic and educational outcomes of DACA recipients.
Rights, Deportation, and Detention in the Age of Immigration Control (Stanford University Press, 2015).
Examines the political determinants of immigration control policies across 25 immigrant-receiving democracies over the first decade of the new century.
"Does Where I Live Affect Whether I Apply? The Contextual Determinants of Applying for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)" (with ). International Migration Review (2015).
Investigates the factors that help or hinder undocumented youth in applying to DACA. Argues that more immigrant-serving organizations in a state translate into more applications, that DACA implementation rates are not statistically significantly lower in states with hostile policy climates, and that socioeconomic factors are most significantly related to DACA applications.
Nation of Immigrants or Deportation Nation? Analyzing Deportations and Returns in the United States, 1892-2010 in The Nation and Its Peoples: Citizens, Denizens, and Migrants, edited by Shannon Gleeson and John Park (University of California Press, 2014).
Argues that a closer look at the historical record of immigration and the enforcement of U.S. immigration policies makes clear that while we have long been a country of immigration, we have also been a tenacious country of deportation and exclusion. After a historical overview of early U.S. immigration policies and their enforcement provisions, I analyze trends in deportation and the political and economic determinants of these trends from 1892-2010.
Senate and House Immigration Reform Efforts in the 113th Congress: An OverviewSenate and House Immigration Reform Efforts in the 113th Congress: An Overview (with ), Scholars Strategy Network, July 2013.
Offers a side-by-side comparison of Senate and House immigration reform efforts in the 113th Congress.