People
Faculty Coordinators
Angela S. Garcia, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Crown Family School of Social Work Policy and Practice
Angela S. García is Associate Professor at the University of Chicago’s Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. She is a scholar of migration, membership, law, and the state, with a focus on undocumented migration in the context of US immigration federalism. García’s award-winning book, Legal Passing: Navigating Undocumented Life and Local Immigration Law (University of California Press), compares the impacts of restrictive and accommodating subnational immigration laws for undocumented Mexican immigrants. Her current work includes a book project on time and undocumented middle life, and a collaborative study on urban inclusion and Chicago’s municipal ID program. García earned a PhD in Sociology and a MA in Latin American Studies from the University of California, San Diego.
René D. Flores, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology
Flores received his Ph.D. in Sociology and Social Policy from Princeton University in 2014. His primary research interests are in the fields of international migration, race and ethnicity, and social stratification. His research to date has examined the social consequences of subnational restrictionist immigration policies in the U.S. using administrative, ethnographic, and social media data. His current research projects include an experimental study of the determinants of perceived immigrant illegality, an investigation of the effect of non-ethnic factors on ethnoracial identity in Latin America, and a set of papers assessing the adaptation of Latino and Asian immigrants in the U.S. using social media data.
His work has appeared in American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Social Forces, and Social Problems, among others. His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Paul and Daisy Soros Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, the American Sociological Association, the Paul Merage Foundation, and others.
Graduate Student Coordinators
Yunuen Rodriguez Rodriguez
Doctoral Student, Crown Family School of Social Work Policy and Practice
Yunuen Rodriguez Rodriguez is a doctoral student at the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. Her research focuses on understanding the drivers of emigration among undocumented individuals in the U.S. She examines the factors that prompt their departure and how they fare post-exit. Her work aims to examine the connection between leaving the U.S. and the well-being of undocumented Latino populations. Through her qualitative work, she highlights the critical role of government in shaping migration patterns, and frames exit as a strategy of resistance in xenophobic political climates to improve well-being.
Before pursuing her doctorate, Rodriguez Rodriguez worked on reunifying unaccompanied minors with their families in the U.S. She also served as a consultant, ensuring the implementation of organizational policies that address the needs of unaccompanied children and the staff responsible for their care. She earned a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies from Beloit College, an AM in Sociology, and later an AM in Clinical Social Work, both from The University of Chicago.
Juliet Kelso
Doctoral Student, Department of Comparative Human Development