July 22, 2020: PRESS RELEASE HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS CHARGE THE UNITED STATES AND MEXICO WITH SYSTEMIC HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AT THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER UNDER THE GUISE OF COVID-19, REMAIN IN MEXICO POLICIES, AND THE FANTASY OF SAFE ASYLUM ALTERNATIVES IN CENTRAL AMERICA Today the USF Immigration & Deportation Defense Clinic and Migration Studies program in conjunction with 40 organizations who do work in Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and the United States filed a request for a thematic hearing before […]

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–Press Release– University of San Francisco Master in Migration Studies Program Applauds US Supreme Court DACA Decision For now, the Court’s Decision Recognizes the Benefits that Hundreds of Thousands of DACA Recipients Provide to Communities Throughout the Country The faculty and staff of the Master in Migration Studies at the University of San Francisco applauds today’s Supreme Court decision striking down the Trump administration’s decision to terminate DACA. In DHS v. Regents of the University of California, a 5-4 decision […]

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Undocumented Immigrants Should Not be Excluded from COVID-19 Relief The newly passed CARES Act aims to boost the economy and soften the financial hardships experienced by people and communities impacted by the devastating global coronavirus pandemic. While the act aims to support families, local businesses and more, the 2 trillion-dollar stimulus package fails to support some of the most vulnerable communities impacted by COVID-19–undocumented immigrants. While this is not the first time that this community has been left out of […]

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Last fall, the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC), a grassroots organization working to empower and organize the community towards justice and self-determination for all, hosted a public charge information session in the Tenderloin to raise awareness about the new rule, how it will affect immigrants and their families, and the resources available in and around the Bay area that range from legal services, rapid response, and connection to social services. What exactly is public charge? This law is about […]

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Flavio Bravo, a 2019 graduate of the Masters in Migration Studies program at the University of San Francisco, has turned his passion for immigrant rights into fighting for justice on Capitol Hill. Bravo grew up in the border state of Arizona, where the loudest political voices were those that held anti-immigrant sentiments and echoed anti-Mexican bigotry. Realizing that conversations about immigration were dinner-table discussions among families across America, not just in the border towns, he decided to continue pursuing these […]

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Graduate School is hard, but here are some helpful tips we have collected from our students to help you through your journey.  Classes are discussion based. This means that during class, not only will you be learning from your professor, but you also will be learning from your peers! Many of you have worked in the field or have lived what you are learning. This is valuable knowledge and should be shared with others.   Feedback takes time. When submitting […]

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My name is Maraika Kuipers-Sharsher, I am a graduate student in the USF Master in Migration Studies Program with the hopes of becoming a refugee lawyer. Through this program, I have been exposed to many amazing learning opportunities and wanted to share one on our MIMS blog. I attended a teach-in on Colonial Geographies *Border Crossing: Kashmir, Mexico, and Palestine, hosted by AMED (Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas) Studies at SFSU. AMED focuses on decolonizing research surrounding Arabs and […]

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My name is Erika Landa Sarmiento. I am a DACAmented student born in Puebla, Mexico, and was brought to the United States at age two. Growing up, I set a goal for myself to be the first one in my family to graduate from a university. Last May, that dream became a reality when I graduated from California State University, Channel Islands, with a Bachelor of Arts in Chicana/o Studies. I applied to graduate programs, because I was encouraged to […]

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