EXPERTS ADVISORY

A professor who has spent several summers studying undocumented immigration on the U.S.-Mexican border, a sociology professor who studies immigration from a sociological perspective, and another researcher who recently took a group of students to study the border with Mexico can discuss presidential candidate Donald Trump’s meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and his immigration plan.

Sherrie Kossoudji is an associate professor of social work and adjunct associate professor of economics. She has written numerous articles on the legal status of immigrant workers in the U.S. and the incentives to cross the border illegally. Kossoudji has also written on wealth disparities for immigrants. This summer she brought a group of students to the border with Mexico. Check out their blog: www.ssw.umich.edu/blog

Contact: 734-763-6320, [email protected]

Silvia Pedraza, professor of sociology and American culture, studies the sociology of immigration as well as race and ethnicity in America. Her research seeks to understand the causes and consequences of immigration as a historical process that forms and transforms nations. She recently said on the stalemate on immigration reform:

“One, our immigration system will continue to be broken. Two, the lives of many decent, hard-working undocumented Latinos will continue to be plagued by fear of deportation and living with divided families. Three, the job prospects of many decent American citizens—of all races—will continue to be damaged by the presence of a cheaper and more vulnerable labor force. Last, the rightful aspirations of young, undocumented Latinos who grew up American for a good college education will be truncated.”

Contact: 734-647-3659, [email protected]

Jason De Leon, assistant professor of anthropology, can discuss the lives of undocumented immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexican border. He has worked in the Sonoran Desert and in Mexico, uncovering stories behind the migration to the north. He recently published “The Land of the Open Graves” detailing life and death on the border

Contact: [email protected]