'Humanizing Deportation' During the Pandemic

Continuing work on a project telling the stories of deported people has been hampered due to COVID-19 and travel restrictions. But a Public Impact Research Initiative grant from UC Davis Public Scholarship and Engagement recently allowed College of Letters and Science faculty, students and others to carry out fieldwork in Tijuana, Mexico, that looks at the ongoing deportation crisis and how it has been made worse by the pandemic.

“The trip was invaluable. Not only did it help revive our in-country relationships, which is critical to our work of illuminating stories of displaced migrants and refugees; but it also impressed upon us the importance of our public scholarship work in light of the pervading pandemic and its fall out," said Robert McKee Irwin, professor of Spanish. He gives an update on the work that’s been completed.