MY RESEARCH

 lives at the intersection of immigration studies, developmental psychology, and social justice and broadly examines the cognitive, social, and emotional development of children impacted by immigration policy.

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I approach this line of inquiry in three ways:

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1. by exploring the role of familial strategies as a moderating factor between exposure to undocumented immigration status and developmental outcomes,

2. by investigating the individual differences in how children ages 6-15 years old cognitively and emotionally understand the concepts of “illegality” and immigration policies in the United States, and

3. by studying the influence of caregiver-child relationship quality in mixed-status families on individual meaning-making processes.

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Across these three intertwined lines of work I take an interdisciplinary lens, I prioritize methodologies that elevate the voices of these communities, and I consider families’ geographical contexts, sociopolitical ecologies, and caregivers’ perimigration contexts.