Professor Stephanie Canizales and her collaborators at UCSD, UCSB, and UCI have won a $1.6M grant from the UC 2025 Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives program for a project titled: "Reimagining Refuge: California for Just Migrant Futures."
Abstract: Amid climate change, political upheaval, and organized crime, record numbers of migrants are arriving at the US southern border seeking asylum. Many are families and youth. In cities like San Diego, up to 1000 people have landed daily, overwhelming NGOs and service providers. Once in the US, migrants’ needs intersect with enduring urban challenges, from homelessness to health disparities. The “crisis” (as dubbed by politicians like Trump and Abbott) has made immigration a key flashpoint in US politics. California, a border state that is 40% Latino and 28% foreign-born is poised to lead the way to reimagining the process of refuge. This project brings together leading UC immigration scholars, students, and organizations across California and the US-Mexico border to 1) conduct an unprecedented, multi-sited, and multi-scalar analysis of the impacts of US treatment of asylum seekers, by and for California’s immigrants, and 2) seed a just future for migrants. Funding will support two major initiatives: The PIs will collaborate with immigrant NGOs and UC graduate and undergraduate students to conduct interviews, participant observation, and art workshops with asylum-seeking families across California, in detention, at the US-Mexico border, and in Mexico en route to the United States. Researchers co-design the study with NGOs and service providers and work with migrants to understand their lived experiences. The study will connect California’s major regions and compare practices in California to other sites in the US and beyond. These data will provide a first-of-its kind understanding of the impacts of current US policies and enforcement practices for migrants, with a focus on youth and families. In addition, the study will identify, design, and test humane alternatives to border militarization, detention, and long-term urban limbo. We will build a California-wide community of scholars and practitioners reimagining and practicing just resettlement. We will offer small grants to UC faculty, graduate students, undergraduates, community organizers, and artists, to cultivate innovation and cross-sector dialogue. And, we will hold annual twoday convenings and regular workshops to bring together these groups and reimagine refuge, intellectually, artistically, and practically.