20th Annual Marjorie Pay Hinckley Lecture
"Lives Split in Two: DACA and the Limits of Semi-Citizenship"
Gonzales argues that liminally legal statuses like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) endow their beneficiaries with a duality of experiences, of both security and vulnerability. He will share the impacts this affect has on individuals, families, and the American Dream for those who have been dubbed "dreamers."
Gonzales draws his conclusions from a 10-year longitudinal study that included a national survey of 2,684 DACA-eligible young adults and four waves of face-to-face interviews.
Roberto G. Gonzales
As the Richard Perry University Professor and the 25th Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Roberto G. Gonzales has appointments in the Department of Sociology and the Graduate School of Education.
Since 2002, Professor Gonzales has carried out one of the most comprehensive studies of undocumented immigrants in the United States. His landmark book, Lives in Limbo: Undocumented and Coming of Age in America, is based on an in-depth study that followed 150 undocumented young adults in Los Angeles for 12 years and has won eight major book awards.
His research focuses on factors that shape and reduce economic, legal, and social inequalities among vulnerable and hard-to-reach youth populations as they transition to adulthood. His published research has been widely cited and has garnered awards from multiple disciplines. He is an active public scholar and has advised a broad range of stakeholders in the private and public sectors, has briefed members of the U.S. Congress, and has testified on matters of immigration policy before the U.S. Senate.
Prior to his appointment at Penn, Gonzales held faculty positions at Harvard University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Washington. His research has been supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the WT Grant Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, and the Heising-Simons Foundation.
Students in the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences gain Experience Points for attending this lecture. Learn more about Experience Points.