¡Hola y bienvenidos!

My name is Alexis.

I come from a family of Cuban immigrants, and that history shapes how I see the obstacles immigrants face when arriving in a country that is often unwelcoming. My family came to the United States with little more than what they could carry, after years of hardship and fear.

U.S. policy has historically treated Cubans arriving here differently from many other migrant groups, and I recognize the relative advantages that created. Even so, my family's transition was hard. Work was scarce and wages were low. A language barrier in a medical setting led to a family member being harmed in ways that caused lasting physical damage. Experiences like that left my family wary of a country they had to learn to call home.

Many of these challenges have persisted for decades and still surface in new forms. More recently, relatives seeking asylum have made difficult journeys, worked to learn a new language, and taken on low-paying jobs to get by. There is still enormous work to be done to end the exploitation, criminalization, and marginalization of immigrant communities.

My education and career have centered on researching ways to reduce the precarity immigrants face, in the workplace and in their communities. That work is why I'm pursuing a legal career in immigrant rights. With recent shifts in asylum rules and immigration court decisions, the basic right to protection is increasingly under threat, and immigrants need advocates willing to speak plainly on their behalf.

I'll use this site to share ongoing work (papers, publications, projects, and photos) as it develops. Thank you for following along.

Cuando luchamos, ganamos.