Institute for the Study of the Americas

at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Latino Migration Project

The Institute for the Study of the Americas (ISA) established the Latino Migration Project in collaboration with the Center for Global Initiatives in recognition of the need to understand the impact and implications of the expanding Latin American presence in North Carolina. Recent migration to North Carolina is a continuation of a historical process that has long served as a source of economic development of the state as well as a catalyst for revisiting issues of civil rights, diversity, and the status of marginal groups in society. The Latino Migration Project addresses ISA’s mission to expand the conceptual scope of Latin American studies to include the diasporic dimensions of Latin American peoples, with attention to the expanding Latin American presence in the United States and with a special focus on North Carolina.

Through scholarship, by way of classroom instruction and graduate training, through advocacy of community engagement, and support for enlightened public policy, the Latino Migration Project works towards the following goals:

• To foster the development of communities in North Carolina in which diverse groups engage one another with respect and dignity and participate with good-will in on-going dialogues.

• Disseminate accurate and timely information about immigration issues relevant to the general public well-being.

• Coordinate and develop teaching, research, program, and policy initiatives relating to Latin Americans and their communities in North Carolina.

Since its creation in 2007, Latino Migration Project focused on building capacity for research, as well as making research publicly accessible. Project activities include:

1) the creation of a faculty-student research circle on local immigration policy in collaboration with the UNC School of Law Human Rights/Immigration Clinic;
2) the inauguration of a community conference series to examine impacts of local immigration policies;
3) collaboration with local organizations for a month-long public engagement series on immigration issues;
4) submission of grants for research on the bi-national impacts of U.S. local immigration governance;
5) teaching the Service Learning Course “Latin American Immigrant Perspectives” and;
6) collaboration with a state-wide public service campaign educating NC residents about Latin American immigration to North Carolina.

The Latino Migration Project hosted Adriana Cortes Jimenez, director the Fundacion Comunitaria de Bajio in Guanajuato, Mexico. From left to right, Hannah Gill, Shelley Clarke,Sharon Mujica, Adriana Cortes Jimenez, Beatriz Riefkohl Muniz, and Carlos Toriello

ISA at UNC-Chapel Hill | CB 3205 | Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3205

Phone: (919) 966-1484 | Fax: (919) 962-0398