UF experts available to comment on illegal immigration issues

June 11, 2007

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Legislation to deal with illegal immigration continues its struggle in Congress while presidential hopefuls are bombarded with questions about the issue. The following experts are available at the University of Florida to provide insight and comment on related topics:

Immigration history, law
Juan F. Perea, law professor, has published a number of articles on immigration history and immigration law.
352-273-0918
perea@law.ufl.edu

Latino immigrants
Allan F. Burns, anthropology professor, is an expert on immigration from Mexico and Central America to the United States.
352-392-2230
afburns@anthro.ufl.edu

Labor issues
Robert D. Emerson, professor in the food and resource economics department, researches the effects of uncertain U.S. immigration policy on labor availability in agriculture.
352-392-1881, ext. 316
remerson@ufl.edu

Religion in Latino communities
Phil Williams, political science professor, and Manuel Vasquez, professor of religion, were awarded a $450,000 grant from the Ford Foundation earlier this year to study social interaction between Latino immigrants and the established Atlanta community, as well as how religion shapes immigrants’ experiences. They studied the experiences of Latino immigrants in South Florida under a previous Ford Foundation grant.
Williams, 352-392-0262, ext. 247
pjw@polisci.ufl.edu
Vasquez, 352-392-1625, ext. 229,
mvasquez@religion.ufl.edu