Immigration Policy Experts
January 4, 2008

Government officials, activists and public policy groups across the country are closely watching Arizona, where a new state law imposes tough sanctions on employers who hire undocumented workers. The law, which took effect Jan. 1, is seen as a test for the nation. UC Davis has a wide range of experts who can provide perspective and background on immigration policy:

IMMIGRATION, GLOBALIZATION AND WAGES -- An estimated 9 to 12 percent of Arizona's 3 million workers are illegal immigrants. Robert Feenstra, the C. Bryan Cameron Distinguished Chair in International Economics at UC Davis, is an expert on globalization and the economic forces that promote immigration. He has written extensively on the impacts of international trade and foreign investment, including the effects of NAFTA. He is especially interested in the effects of trade and investments on wages earned by workers. Feenstra is editor of the Journal of International Economics, directs the Center for International Data at UC Davis, and is also the director of the International Trade and Investment program at the National Bureau of Economic Research, based in Cambridge, Mass. Contact: Robert Feenstra, Economics, (530) 752-7022, rcfeenstra@ucdavis.edu.

IMMIGRATION AND PUBLIC HEALTH -- Jobs and access to health care remain closely linked in this country. Adela de la Torre, professor of Chicana/o studies and director of the Center for Public Policy, Race, Ethnicity and Gender at UC Davis, studies health care access and finance issues that affect the Latino community. She is also an expert on border health issues, from tuberculosis to AIDS. From 1996 to 2002, de la Torre was director of the Mexican American Studies and Research Center at the University of Arizona, where she developed and directed the Border Academy, a summer institute that explored issues unique to the U.S.-Mexico border. An economist, de la Torre is the author of "Sana, Sana: Mexican Americans and Health," and "Moving From the Margins: A Chicana's View of Public Policy." Contact: Adela de la Torre, Chicana/o Studies, (530) 752-3904, adelatorre@ucdavis.edu.

PRODUCE PRICES, FARMWORKER WAGES AND OTHER IMPACTS OF IMMIGRATION POLICY -- Philip Martin, professor of agricultural and resource economics, has published extensively on labor, migration, economic development and immigration policy issues. He has testified before Congress and state and local agencies on these issues, particularly as they relate to agricultural labor. Martin recently co-authored a report urging California policymakers to develop strategies to encourage and hasten the integration of immigrants into the state's economy and society. He also can discuss labor and migration as they affect U.S. and Mexico relations. He maintains a Web publication, Migration News, with extensive information about world migration issues. Contact: Philip Martin, Agricultural and Resource Economics, (530) 752-1530, plmartin@ucdavis.edu.

IMPACT OF IMMIGRANT LABOR ON JOBS AND WAGES OF NATIVE WORKERS -- UC Davis growth economist Giovanni Peri has found that immigration labor is linked to robust city and state economies around the country. "Our work shows that cities with more immigrants in the workforce exhibit higher productivity and wages for the American-born employees," Peri says. "This is true even when we focus specifically on less educated native workers." Contact: Giovanni Peri, Economics, (530) 554-2304, gperi@ucdavis.edu.

IMMIGRATION POLICY AND CIVIL RIGHTS -- Kevin R. Johnson, the Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law at UC Davis, can talk about the potential impacts of Arizona's law on the civil rights of citizens and immigrants alike. Johnson, a nationally and internationally recognized expert on immigration and civil rights, is also a professor of Chicana/o studies. His books include "Opening the Floodgates: Why America Needs to Rethink Its Borders and Immigration Laws" and "The 'Huddled Masses' Myth: Immigration and Civil Rights." He is co-editor of the ImmigrationProf blog http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/ and a member of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's Immigration Policy Group. Contact: Kevin R. Johnson, School of Law, (530) 752-0243, krjohnson@ucdavis.edu.

IMMIGRATION, POVERTY AND SURVIVAL -- Agricultural and resource economics professor Edward Taylor studies migration and its impacts on Pacific Rim countries, specifically Mexico, Central America and Ecuador. He can talk about the reasons behind a transfer of rural poverty from Mexico into the U.S. His recent research has explored the draw of Mexican immigrants into California, where they have created pockets of poverty throughout the Central Valley. Taylor is also an expert on salary remittances as economic multipliers, how immigration promotes survival in native villages and other economic issues triggered by immigration. He co-wrote, with UC Davis Professor Philip Martin and Urban Institute researcher Michael Fix, a new book, "The New Rural Poverty." Contact: Ed Taylor (fluent in Spanish), Agricultural and Resource Economics, (530) 752-0213, taylor@primal.ucdavis.edu.

HOW OTHER COUNTRIES HANDLE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION -- An expert on comparative immigration policy, Jeannette Money can talk about contemporary policies in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. She can also provide historical context for international immigration policy. A political scientist, Money is the author of "Fences and Neighbors: The Political Geography of Immigration Control." Contact: Jeannette Money, Political Science, jnmoney@ucdavis.edu, (530) 752-9095. Note: Money is only available for print interviews.

IMPACT OF IMMIGRATION LAWS AND ENFORCEMENT ON BUSINESS AND RACE RELATIONS -- Bill Ong Hing, professor of law, studies the impact of immigration laws and enforcement on businesses and immigrant communities. He has conducted extensive research on immigration law, policy, procedure and criminal justice. He also studies the changing demographics of Asian American communities, and the impact of these demographic shifts on race relations. Hing's latest book is titled "Deporting Our Souls -- Values, Morality and Immigration Policy." His other books include "Defining America Through Immigration Policy," "Making and Remaking Asian America Through Immigration Policy" and "To Be an American -- Cultural Pluralism and the Rhetoric of Assimilation." Contact: Bill Ong Hing, School of Law, (530) 754-9377, bhing@ucdavis.edu.

ANTI-IMMIGRANT SENTIMENTS -- Luis Guarnizo, an expert on global migration, can talk about the universal issues of citizenship and human rights raised by undocumented workers around the world. He can also discuss the tensions generated when increasing demand for immigrant labor clashes with growing anti-immigrant initiatives in the Northern Hemisphere. Guarnizo has investigated the web of social networks and power structures that transcend territorial jurisdictions. He recently completed a study about Latin American immigration in four European countries -- Italy, Spain, England and Denmark. Guarnizo is co-editor of "Transnationalism From Below" and of a special issue on transnational communities of the journal Ethnic and Racial Studies. Contact: Luis Guarnizo (fluent in Spanish), Human and Community Development, (530) 752-9805, leguarnizo@ucdavis.edu.

DOMESTIC WORKERS AND IMMIGRATION -- Rhacel Parrenas, professor of Asian American studies, studies domestic workers, a group composed of mostly undocumented migrants, temporary labor migrants and "out of status" migrants -- those whose status is in transition from undocumented to documented. She can talk about the quest by women and men from the Philippines, Mexico, Sri Lanka, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Peru and Indonesia to leave poverty behind. She can also talk about the economic and social effects of their emigration on their families. Parrenas is the author of three books, "The Force of Domesticity: Migrant Women and Globalization," "Children of Global Migration" and "Servants of Globalization." The latter was made into the documentary "The Chain of Love." She is at work now on a book about human trafficking of women into the sex industry. Contact: Rhacel Parrenas, Asian American Studies, (530) 752-1104, rparrenas@ucdavis.edu.

Media contact(s):
Claudia Morain, UC Davis News Service, (530) 752-9841, cmmorain@ucdavis.edu
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