About

I am a PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of Michigan and a predoctoral trainee at the Population Studies Center within the Institute for Social Research. My research engages broadly with ethno-racial stratification, immigration, and urban/regional dynamics, with a particular interest in how these areas intersect with the experiences of Latino and Latino immigrants in the United States. My dissertation Placing the American Dream: Latino geographic dispersion, socioeconomic well-being, and belonging across the American Landscape, is guided by the overarching question: how important is place for the socioeconomic well-being and incorporation of Latino immigrants? My dissertation project has been funded internally by the University of Michigan and the Population Studies Center/National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development Graduate Fellowship, as well as the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship , Russell Sage Foundation, and the American Sociological Association/NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant. I am currently scheduled to complete my degree in May 2026.

The Spatial Patterning of Recent Latino Immigrants Across the American Landscape, 1970 – 2019

My dissertation encompases three projects and employs multi-methods. The first project focuses on how immigrant destinations for recently arrived Latinos across the United States have changed over time. I find that changes for recent Latino immigrant destinations not only vary across destination types, but also vary by Latino subgroups, suggesting new Latino diasporas than previously examined.

Destination Effects? The State of Latino Immigrants Well-being in Restrictive States

My second project investigates how restrictive immigration legislations across the United States affects the socioeconomic well-being of Latino immigrants. Specifically, I demonstrate how sub-national policies, especially across the U.S. South, has complex effects the socioeconomic well-being of Latinos, with effects varying by demographic characteristics such as citizenship status, country of origin, and years spent in the country.

Placing the American Dream: Latino Immigrant Belonging in Southeastern Tennessee

My third project interrogates how Latino immigrants establish a sense of belonging in geographies with historically Black and White majority populations (e.g., the U.S. South). I argue that placemaking, ethno-racial identity formation, and engagement with local institutions are interwoven in the degree to which Latino immigrants form a sense of belonging in their communities.

Collaborative Work

Other collaborative research that I am currently engaged in investigates the effects of experiencing social mobility on individual outcomes (Dr. Fabian Pfeffer), ethno-racial gaps in college completion and the role of citizenship status (Dr. Shauna Dyer), and examining historical naturalization rates of immigrants in the United States and how they are shaped by federal immigration legislations (Dr. Lauren Duquette-Rury).

Background Education

Before joining the University of Michigan’s Sociology program, I worked at a community college in East Los Angeles, California where I was a program coordinator for an academic program that is geared towards increasing college retention and transfer rates to four-year universities. I am a proud first-generation, community college transfer student from East Los Angeles College and I received my B.A. in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley in 2016.