Alumni

Nadia Almasalkhi

Former Policy & Communications Fellow

PhD student in Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. Before beginning graduate school, I worked as a casework intern in a refugee resettlement agency, as a legal assistant to immigration attorneys, and as a research assistant investigating the effects of trauma on refugees in the U.S. I hold a B.A. in International Studies and a B.A. in Arabic and Islamic Studies, both from the University of Kentucky. My research interests include the experiences of Middle Eastern emigrants, the politics of immigration law, and the intersection of nationalism and forced migrations.

Lilián Juárez Armenta

Undergraduate Researcher
BIMI Team

Lilián Juárez Armenta is a fourth-year, transfer, undergraduate student at UC Berkeley, majoring in Political Science and minoring in Spanish Linguistics. She plans to attend law school after graduating from UC Berkeley. She is passionate about immigrants and undocumented students’ rights. Lilián is currently an intern for the bi-national organization, Al Otro Lado, where she works with asylum seekers who are forced to remain in Mexico due to the current immigration laws. As a member of the 2021 Undergraduate Research Cohort, she will research the experiences of undocumented students...

Donya Atashie

BIMI Research Analyst

Donya Atashie is a Research Analyst with the Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative (BIMI) and a student at UC Berkeley, pursuing degrees in Psychology and Legal Studies on the pre-law track. She is deeply passionate about the intersections of law, psychology, and human rights, particularly in advocating for underrepresented communities. Her academic interests center on the ways legal systems shape social structures and the psychological impact of migration and displacement.

Beyond her academic pursuits, she serves as the Culture Chair...

Bianca Garcia

BIMI Research Analyst

Bianca Garcia is a Research Analyst with the Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative (BIMI) and a fourth-year undergraduate student in the Department of Sociology at UC Berkeley. She is passionate about the intersections of society and technology and hopes to pursue a career in sustainable software development. Furthermore, she is deeply interested in exploring how social structures affect underrepresented communities, such as migrant communities, in which she grew up and around, in her hometown of San Diego, California.

Through BIMI, she hopes to connect...

Karla Gutierrez Cebrero

Undergraduate Researcher
BIMI Team

My name is Karla Gutierrez Cebrero, I am a first year bioengineering major interested in research that explores the experience of undocumented students after they graduate from college. Specifically, the strategies that undocumented students use to succeed after graduating with an associates or bachelor’s degree without a working permit. As well as the challenges undocumented students encounter after obtaining a college diploma without a work permit.

Andy Chang

Ph.D Candidate, Sociology

I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, working at the interface of migration, gender, and development. My dissertation uses ethnographic methods to examine Indonesian guest workers’ incorporation into Asia’s postindustrial countries. I compare the migration experiences of women domestic workers and factory operators. To understand how brokers and states construct transnational labor markets in gendered ways, I conducted 22 months of participant observation in four Indonesian recruitment agencies and more than 120 interviews with government officials...

Andrew Garcia Chavez

Undergraduate Communications & Outreach Fellow

Andrew Chavez worked as a Communication and Outreach Fellow at BIMI in the Summer and Fall of 2020. He is a 4th year studying Political Economy and minoring in both Public Policy & Education. As the son of two working-class immigrants, he has experienced the effects of immigration policy first hand in his family. As a result, he wants to try his best in helping the immigrant community and their families in the Bay Area in any way he can.

Laura Chen

Graduate Student and Organizer of MRPG @ Berkeley

Research interests in displacement and post-conflict reconstruction; refugee resettlement; integration and economic/social participation

Morelia Chihuaque

Communications Fellow

Morelia Chihuaque is a UC Berkeley graduate and majored in Political Science at UC Berkeley. Morelia' s main interests are human rights and immigration rights as a daughter to immigrants. She has witnessed the barriers and lack of resources immigrants in her community have faced. One of her goals is to give back to her community, help uplift and fight for the rights of marginalized communities. She has interned for Stockton's Mayor, Michael Tubbs, in creating an Immigration Resource Guides for the community. Morelia is a BIMI Communications Fellow.

Christian Dieguez

BIMI Research Analyst
Christian Dieguez is a Research Analyst at the Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative, and a senior at UC Berkeley majoring in Political Science with a minor in Public Policy. Being raised in Los Angeles, California, Christian has become passionate about addressing the historically discriminatory systems that shape the access to opportunities and resources for many individuals. He is particularly interested in creating immigration reform and keeping families together, strengthening our human rights, and investing in early education.

During his time at...