Projects

Undocumented Student Equity Project (USEP) The Undocumented Student Equity Project is dedicated to conducting rigorous empirical research to inform institutional policies and practices that will advance equity and inclusion for undocumented students. Martha co-founded the project in 2015 in collaboration with faculty, undocumented and allied undergraduate and graduate students at UC Irvine. It has supported a series of projects on the academic experiences and wellbeing of undocumented college students.

The UC Collaborative to Promote Immigrant and Student Equity (UC PromISE) is a multi-campus collaboration dedicated to fostering cutting-edge research on immigrant “illegality.” It focuses on how current immigration policies have exacerbated vulnerabilities among undocumented students and expanded collateral consequences to citizen students with undocumented parents. The collaborative fielded a survey UC undergraduate students focusing on how immigration policies have affected the educational experiences and wellbeing of undocumented students, U.S. citizen students who have undocumented parents, and U.S. citizen students who have legal immigrant parents. It aims to identify ways to better support and promote the educational success and wellbeing of undocumented college students and students from mixed-status and immigrant families. In addition, the project is dedicated to developing a cohort of scholars conducting policy-relevant research in this field through a series of fellowships and conferences. This work is supported by a UC Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives grant. Martha served as a research assistant on the project. Her expertise on mental health resulted in being invited to collaborate and publish with other members of the research team.