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Breaking down South Florida's record Cuban immigration numbers
Dr. Elizabeth Aranda was interviewed and quoted in Spectrum News. In the interview, she discusses the unprecedented wave of Cuban immigration to Florida, noting that while many Cubans migrate by land through new routes like Nicaragua, sea crossings still occur. She highlights that Tampa has become the second-largest hub for Cuban migrants in Florida, after South Florida. Dr. Aranda provids expert insight into the political and economic factors driving this migration, including Cuba’s enduring dictatorship and policy changes that have facilitated migration to the U.S.
April 27, 2024Policy Analysis
Mental Health: The Silent Crisis Among Immigrants in the United States
In this blog post, Liz Ventura, MPH, CPH, Research Associate at the Center, delves into the mental health challenges faced by immigrants, exacerbated by structural barriers, including restrictive immigration policies and socio-economic inequities. Drawing from her personal experiences and academic research, she highlights the underutilization of mental health services within immigrant communities and the need for culturally sensitive care and policy reforms to address these disparities. The blog advocates for a holistic approach to mental health that integrates community support and empathetic public health strategies.
April 15, 2024Publications & Products
Im/migrant Lives Season 1 Episode 4: Security at the border and racial profiling
In recent decades security at the US Southern border has increased to stop the arrivals of immigrants and refugees. This episode examines how border security, specifically the presence of the border wall in Arizona communities and Customs and Border Patrol’s practice of screening residents at border checkpoints, affects the Latino/a/x population of young adults in the region. We will discuss racial profiling practices, how they impact human rights, and how they erode residents’—including US citizens’—sense of belonging to the nation.
March 25, 2024Podcast
Normalized Expendability: Navigating Immigrant Legal Status during a Global Pandemic
Publication in American Behavioral Scientist. Aranda, Elizabeth, Elizabeth Vaquera, Heide Castañeda, and Melanie Escue. 2024. This study uses longitudinal qualitative data to explore how undocumented immigrants in Florida navigated the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings reveal how legal violence, compounded vulnerability, and exclusion from pandemic aid disproportionately affected immigrants working on the frontlines. The research demonstrates how policies normalizing unequal treatment led to heightened risks for these communities, exacerbating their economic and social marginalization.
February 6, 2024Publications & Products
New podcast “Im/migrant Lives” highlights impact of public policy and community organizations on im/migrant communities
The Im/migrant Well-Being Research Center’s new podcast features thought leaders and scholars and seeks to inform the public about how policies and community organizations can solve the most pressing problems facing im/migrant communities.
January 25, 2024Research
Im/migrant Lives Season 1 Episode 3: Revamping Asylum
The right to seek asylum is protected under US federal law and the right to seek safety from persecution is backed by international law. Despite this, as immigrants and asylum seekers cross into the United States along the US-Mexico border, Congressional Representatives are negotiating changes to the US asylum system to slow the flow of migrants into the US. In this episode, we discuss the impact of these proposals and how the US asylum system could be revamped to ensure that a humanitarian approach guides changes to the asylum system.
January 24, 2024Podcast
Ask PolitiFact: What branch of government is ‘really’ responsible for the crisis at the border?
Dr. Elizabeth Aranda was interviewed and quoted in an article by the Poynter Institute’s Politifact. Dr. Aranda highlights that while all three branches of government are involved in immigration policy, Congress holds the greatest responsibility due to its failure to update immigration laws since the 1990s. She pointed out that the lack of legal pathways for immigrants has contributed to the ongoing challenges at the border.
January 17, 2024Policy Analysis
Im/migrant Lives Season 1 Episode 2: Impact of Detention and Electronic Monitoring on Immigrant Children’s Well-Being
In Episode 2, Center Director Dr. Elizabeth Aranda interviews Dr. Caitlin Patler, Associate Professor of Public Policy at UC Berkeley, and Dr. Mirian Martinez-Aranda, Assistant Professor of Sociology at UC Irvine, about the impact of adult immigrant detention and alternatives to detention on their children’s well-being.
November 30, 2023Podcast
Dr. Elizabeth Aranda joins fellowship focused on Puerto Rico in post-disaster settings
Dr. Elizabeth Aranda, professor of sociology and director of the Im/migrant Well-Being Research Center, will focus on the future of Puerto Rico in a post-disaster context in her newly awarded fellowship.
October 23, 2023Research
Im/migrant Lives Season 1 Episode 1: Effects of SB 1718 on Florida's Im/migrant Communities
In Episode 1, Center Director Dr. Elizabeth Aranda interviews Nanci Palacios, Deputy Director of Faith in Florida, and Dr. Heide Castañeda, Professor of Anthropology, on the effects of SB 1718, the immigration law that passed in the Florida legislature in the Spring 2023 legislative session. This law criminalizes many aspects of immigrants’ lives in the name of curbing undocumented migration. In this episode, we discuss the law's effects on immigrants and their communities.
October 12, 2023Podcast
Pilot study to highlight outcomes of young adults from immigrant parentage
Center Director, Elizabeth Aranda, and Undergraduate Research Assistant, Felix Sutphin, were quoted in a USF College of Arts and Sciences HUB featured story on the pilot study exploring the incorporation outcomes among young adults with immigrant parent(s).
September 27, 2023Research
![A sign supports young immigrants who were part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The author points out that because U.S. citizen children or those with DACA often act as institutional brokers for their families, the state Senate bill — SB 1718 — will place them at risk of arrest, for the mere act of caring for their families. [ RALPH BARRERA | AP ]](/arts-sciences/centers/iwrc/news/images/2023/tampa-bay-times-article-490x328.jpg)
Helping an undocumented immigrant in Florida could soon be against the law
Elizabeth Aranda published the following Op-Ed in the Tampa Bay Times: “Helping an Undocumented Immigrant in Florida Could Soon Be Against the Law. Tampa Bay Times
March 26, 2023Publications & Products