Center for Latino Policy Research

Dr. Adrián Félix traces Mexican migrant transnationalism across the migrant political life cycle, beginning with the “political baptism” (i.e. naturalization in the U.S.) and ending with repatriation to México after death.  Drawing on a multi-method cross-border research design, Dr. Félix examines Mexican migrants’ transnational political allegiances, affiliations and attachments to argue that participation in one national context is not exclusive but rather reciprocal with involvement in the other.  By discussing how Mexican migrants embody their transnational citizenship and interface with state institutions and state power on both sides of the border, Dr. Félix’ research challenges conventional conceptions of political belonging and membership in the U.S. and México.  Defying singular political loyalties, even among Mexican migrants who have become politically integrated in the U.S., cross-border connections to their communities of origin can live on, indicative of migrants’ transnational potential to transform democracy in both countries. 

In this brief, we look at nativity differences across Californians who registered online for the November 2012 election: whether U.S. born Latina/o or Asian American, on line registrants have different characteristics than those who are naturalized. 

Lacayao discusses findings from her research that mapped the attitude of White residents towards Latinos and explains how these attitude and perceptions impact policy

Marisa Abrajano examines whether landmark immigration events can leave a permanent mark on an individual's views towards immigration, and whether that impact varies across different racial and ethnic groups. Specifically, the author, examines the cohort of individuals who were in their formative years during the passage of major national immigration bills that were proposed or enacted from 1965-2010. Her findings indicate a clear and consistent relationship between these events and attitudes toward social groups; a less systemic relationship emerges between these policy events and attitudes on immigration policies. She prossess recommendations to policy makers and community advocates about how to leverage these findings into action.