Experts Available on Ending of Title 42

The immigration debate has taken center stage in Washington DC yet again: the Trump-era health order known as Title 42 — which allowed US border officials to turn migrants back to Mexico or their home countries immediately because of the pandemic — is set to expire at midnight. Meanwhile, today House Republicans are expected to pass an immigration bill that would require construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall to resume. 

If you’re covering these developments and what they mean for immigration, the following researchers are available:

Ernesto Castañeda, Associate Professor of Sociology, American University 

Castañeda is the founding director of the Immigration Lab. He is also the author of several books, including Building Walls: Excluding Latin People in the United States. He has written for The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Hill, CityLab, and is a frequent guest on France24, Telemundo, Univision, and NTN24. He has two forthcoming books on immigration myths and Central American unaccompanied children.

Josiah Heyman, Professor of Anthropology, Endowed Professor of Border Trade Issues, and Director of Center for Inter-American and Border Studies, University of Texas at El Paso

Last year Heyman chaired the American Anthropological Association’s task force on border walls, whose report can be found here. He is the author of numerous accessible public essays as well as academic works, including one publication relevant to preventing entry at the border. His latest published book is Paper Trails: Migrants, Documents, and Legal Insecurity. 

Yalidy Matos, Assistant Professor of Political Science and Latino and Caribbean Studies, Rutgers University-New Brunswick

Matos’ research interests include racial and ethnic politics, public opinion and behavior, and immigration policy. Her works have been featured in the American Behavioral Scientist; the Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal; Labor: Studies in Working-Class History; Perspectives on Politics; Politics, Groups, and Identities; and Political Research Quarterly. 

Margath Walker, Associate Professor of Geography and Geosciences, University of Louisville

Walker is a geographer whose research focuses on borders, security, and US-Mexico. She has worked with community organizations on the U.S.-Mexico border supporting economic and racial justice.

Sophia Jordán Wallace, Associate Professor, University of Washington-Seattle Campus

Wallace’s research focuses on Latino politics, immigration politics and policy, and legislative politics. Her most recently published book is Walls, Cages, and Family Separation: Race and Immigration Policy in the Trump Era. She is currently working on a book project that examines the framing of immigration politics and policy in Congress and the conditions under which immigration legislation moves forward or stalls.

Feel free to reach out to me and I’d be happy to connect you to the experts. And if you’re looking for researchers on any other topics, please don’t hesitate to reach out – we have over 1,800 university-based researchers like this in our network.