The campus community is invited to a free presentation by Chicano and Latin American Studies faculty Dr. Anabella España-Nájera and Dr. Alina Méndez.

Their discussion will examine how immigration enforcement and criminal law are increasingly overlapping, a process known as crimmigration, and how race, language and labor status shape who is seen as “suspicious.”

The presentation will focus on the history of enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border; how immigration policy has been used to regulate access to work, belonging and citizenship; and how communities, organizations and students can create advocacy, awareness and solidarity through education, policy engagement and public dialogue. The speakers will also discuss the recent Supreme Court ruling that broadens ICE’s authority and explore its impact on immigrant and working-class communities.

Given the Central Valley’s reliance on immigrant labor, this issue affects many students and their families, and can create fear and instability in local communities where immigrants are essential to the region’s economy and culture.

Presenters will also share background on campus or community organizations that offer support resources, such as the Central Valley Immigrant Integration Collaborative, Centro La Familia volunteer opportunities, the Pan Valley Institute, and the Fresno State Dream Success Center, which provides access to legal immigration services to students and employees.

Date: Thursday, Nov. 6
Time: 12:30 - 2 p.m.
Location: Library, Room 3212

For more information, contact aespanajera@mail.fresnostate.edu or alinamendez@mail.fresnostate.edu.

Dr. Annabella España-Nájera is a professor of Chicano and Latin American Studies. Her research examines migration, inequality and political institutions in Latin America and among Central American immigrants in the United States. In her current project, she focuses on how immigrants participate in civic and political life while maintaining transnational connections across borders. Her broader work explores democracy, authoritarianism, and the ways state institutions shape everyday experiences of inclusion and exclusion.

Dr. Alina R. Méndez is an assistant professor in the Chicano and Latin American Studies. Méndez received her doctorate from the University of California, San Diego and a bachelor's in Latin American history from the University of California, Berkeley. She is currently revising her award-winning dissertation into a book manuscript titled "Border Braceros: Migration, Farm Labor, and Social Reproduction in the Imperial Valley-Mexicali Borderlands, 1942-1968."