Preparing Bilingual Spanish Speaking Students for Careers in Immigration Law

FAIN: AKA-285785-22

Regents of the University of California, Davis (Davis, CA 95618-6153)
Robert M. Irwin (Project Director: September 2021 to present)
Emily Celeste Vazquez Enriquez (Co Project Director: April 2022 to present)

The development of five interdisciplinary upper-level Spanish classes on immigration history and law in the United States.

We propose to better prepare bilingual students for careers in immigration law – including those aspiring to law school, as well as those who aim to work in civil organizations that serve Spanish speaking immigrant communities – by developing a series of upper division courses in Spanish that incorporate significant content on immigration law. The five courses we have in mind would focus on key events in US immigration history that are relevant to the contemporary populations of Spanish speaking immigrants in the US southwest, as well as the effects and implications on Latinx immigrant communities of laws and policies relating to immigration, deportation and asylum. Course content would draw from historical documents, legislation, policy mandates, and legal case studies, as well as testimonial narratives and other stories shared by migrants who have navigated the US legal system.