Charis Kubrin, criminology, law & society professor, and Irene Vega, sociology assistant professor, have been named inaugural UCDC Presidential Faculty Fellows. The program, run by the UC Washington Center, trains a select group of UC faculty who focus on immigration policy, health equity and/or climate justice to formally engage with legislators on Capitol Hill. Selected faculty fellows are encouraged to use their research and expertise in partnership with policymakers to address issues that directly impact California and the nation.

Kubrin’s research explores the immigration-crime nexus as well as the impact of immigration-related policy on immigrants, immigrant families and immigrant communities. She’s the author or coauthor of numerous award-winning studies in peer-reviewed journals, and of six books, including her most recent work, Immigration and Crime: Taking Stock (Springer), in which she examines various dimensions of the immigration-crime relationship in the U.S.

Vega’s primary line of research examines how the intersection of legal and policy mandates, bureaucratic culture, and political processes shapes immigration enforcement. Her recently published book, Bordering on Indifference: How Immigration Agents Negotiate Race and Morality (Princeton University Press) draws on fieldwork with Border Patrol Agents and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officers to examine the production of bureaucratic indifference on the frontlines of immigration control. As a Hellman Fellow, Vega has a new project mapping the experiences of upward mobility across groups in Southern California.

As part of the inaugural cohort of seven fellows, Kubrin and Vega will receive one-on-one coaching in their lead up to a week of meetings in late May with federal policy makers. They’ll also have access to policy brief writing and communication workshops and trainings while in DC, and they’ll be given an opportunity to present at an event during the weeklong conference. Travel and housing are included with their fellowship, along with a $2,000 research stipend.