I am a first-generation, formerly undocumented/DACA Ph.D. student at the University of California, Irvine. Although I am interested in various sociological areas, my research specializations center around immigration, race/ethnicity, and law.

The primary focus of my research agenda is to explore critical issues of immigration, race/ethnicity, and law, bringing these interconnected fields into conversation to gain a more nuanced understanding of their societal impacts. I utilize a variety of research methods, with a special emphasis on interview and ethnographic methodologies, to unpack these complex issues. In my article in Critical Sociology, I explored the dual nature of Mexican ethnic enclaves in the U.S., serving both as spaces of inclusion and exclusion for undocumented and documented Mexicans against a backdrop of racialization and an anti-immigrant socio-political climate. Another piece, published in Context Magazine, examines the emotional and psychological burdens wrought by legal violence and the dehumanizing and racializing facets of the U.S. immigration system. Additionally, my upcoming co-authored book chapter investigates the devolution of immigration enforcement from federal to local agencies, underscoring its effects on Latine immigrant oppression and the stifling of political resistance.

Looking ahead, my research will continue to unravel how racialization and the notion of immigrant illegality synergize, both within the United States and in a global context, to forge a distinctive form of oppression for various racialized immigrant groups.