Jozef Callan Robles

Incoming UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, UC San Diego

PhD Candidate in Sociology, UC Irvine

American Sociological Association Minority Fellowship Program Fellow

I study and write about how legal status and racialization shape everyday life and social relationships. In my dissertation, The Remnant Logics of Immigrant Illegality, I argue that legalization doesn’t fully eliminate the dynamics of illegality; rather, it reshapes, extends, and reproduces many of its core logics in new forms and contexts.

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  • Remnants of Illegality (Robles 2025)

    Drawing from interview with 20 formerly undocumented/DACA immigrants, I argue that transitioning through statuses leaves behind what I call remnants of illegality – lingering effects of previous legal designations that continue to shape a person’s behavior and worldview even after the person is no longer in that status. At the same time, they are not helpless in the face of their remnants. Participants can, and work, to unlearn illegality.

    Winner of the 2025 ASA Latino/a Sociology Section’s Cristina Maria Riegos Student Paper Award.

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  • Placing Ethnic Enclaves (Robles & Thacker Thomas 2024)

    We draw on twenty interviews with Mexicans in the U.S. to examine how individuals form close connections to La Cuatro, an ethnic enclave in California. Despite the overall positive nature of their emotional connections within the enclave, our model uncovers paradoxical and recursive outcomes. While place attachment promotes a sense of belonging within La Cuatro, these emotional bonds are deeply tied to broader experiences of social alienation in areas outside the enclave. This alienation stems from three primary factors: legal status or lack thereof, racialization, and pervasive anti-immigrant socio-political ethos.

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  • Agents of Affect (Robles 2025)

    I describe the emotional landscape navigated by immigrants and immigration agents within the U.S. immigration system. Drawing on personal experiences from my own status-adjustment journey, I highlight the emotional labor required of immigrants who confront the system’s persistent uncertainties and of agents who must conform to institutional norms of stoicism. Through anecdotes, I underscore how both groups work to manage their affective states during high-stakes encounters, revealing moments of shared tension and emotional conflict inside an otherwise impersonal bureaucratic structure.

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  • Legal Control & Migrants (Vega and Robles 2026)

    This chapter provides a comprehensive analysis of US immigration enforcement as a form of repression targeting Latinx immigrant communities. We demonstrate that federal and local immigration policies create a varied landscape of control and explore how immigrants and their allies respond to these varied contexts. We also discuss the challenges inherent to immigrant rights movement(s), and the strategies for building cross-racial coalitions to resist repression. We end by situating the US case within a global context, highlighting the need for further research on the intersections between immigration enforcement and political repression.

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Select Highlights

  • Experienced Educator

    3.8/4 average student evaluation score across 11 courses as a lecturer, reflecting consistently strong teaching performance. Nominated for the “Outstanding Lecturer” Award in recognition of dedication to student learning and instructional excellence.

  • ASA Minority Fellowship Program Fellow

    Since 1974, the Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) has prepared diverse, well-trained sociologists for leadership and relevant research. Former fellows have become ASA presidents, prominent professors and scholars, and influential social scientists in government, nonprofits, and business.

  • Russell Sage Dissertation Grant Awardee

    The Russell Sage Dissertation Grant provides support for rigorous, innovative dissertation research that addresses topics closely aligned with RSF priority areas including research related to international migration and race/ethnicity.

  • Featured by UCI School of Social Sciences

    UC Irvine sociology Ph.D. candidate Jozef Robles is using research to examine how immigrants carry the legacy of undocumented life long after legalization.

Featured Projects

  • Immigrant Detention Centers

    I co-lead a study with Rocio Rosales (UC Irvine) on immigrants held in U.S. detention centers. Through ongoing letter exchanges, we detail the experiences of over 70 immigrant detainees across six detention facilities. Although the government calls these sites administrative, our findings show a more punitive, opaque system that detains people, speeds deportations, and often violates due process.

  • Legal Status & Health

    In this collaborative work with Luis Tenorio (Colby College) and Adriana Ceron (Yale), we draw from interviews with formerly undocumented immigrants across three U.S. states (California, Texas, and Georgia) and from the New Immigrant Survey to demonstrate how access to healthcare is shaped by the acquisition of legal status.

  • The Remnant Logics of Immigrant Illegality

    Based on 83 in-depth interviews with formerly undocumented Asian and Latino immigrants in California and Texas, I show that legalization reshapes — but does not end — the logic of immigrant illegality, altering everyday practices, opportunities, and vulnerabilities without fully eliminating marginalization. I am preparing a book proposal and several peer-reviewed articles drawing on this research.