REI Colloquium: Sanctuary Making

Imigration policy and enforcement practices in the United States now extend beyond the border to the country's interior, impacting the private lives of millions of undocumented and mixed-status families in new ways. Sanctuary Making traces this shift, showing how as enforcement has expanded and deepened, new "hot spots" have appeared across nontraditional sites such as neighborhoods, roads, worksites, hospitals, grocery stores, and homes. Undercurrents of fear, anxiety, and loss permeate the everyday lives of the families navigating these terrains of enforcement.

Carolina Valdivia reveals the emotional and material labor of young adults that often underpins families' sanctuary making efforts—strategies to shield against the worst outcomes of enforcement. Many young adults are compelled to take on parental responsibilities and serve as a primary source of emotional support for family members while also brokering legal processes tied to their family's immigration cases. How might policymakers, organizers, educators, and the wider community better support these young people in their efforts to create sanctuary for their families in an increasingly hostile landscape?

More about the book: https://www.ucpress.edu/books/sanctuary-making/paper

This event is co-sponsored by the UC Berkeley Center for Race and Gender and the Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative.

About the Speaker:

Carolina Valdivia is an Assistant Professor of Criminology, Law and Society at the University of California, Irvine. Carolina’s research interests include immigration, law and society, the sociology of education, race and ethnicity, youth and families, and the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Her work explores how various forms of legal and social exclusion impact the lives of immigrant youth and their families, including their educational trajectories, mental health, and political participation.

You can find the rest of her biography here: https://carolinavaldivia.org/

This is an accessible event. If you require an accommodation for effective communication (ASL interpreting/CART captioning, alternative media formats, etc.) or information about campus mobility access features in order to fully participate in this event, please contact IGS at igs@berkeley.edu with as much advance notice as possible and at least 7-10 days before the event.