Institute for Immigration Research Newsletter

Dear Friends of the IIR,

May in Northern Virginia is a time of seasonal change and renewal. In the spring of 2012 Diane Portnoy, CEO and Founder of the Immigrant Learning Center in Malden, MA came to Fairfax, VA to propose founding the Institute for Immigration Research at George Mason University. Then College of Humanities and Social Sciences Dean, Jack Censer asked me to serve as the Founding Director. Leading the IIR since then has been one of the high points of my academic career.

As for seasonal change. I have accepted an offer from the University to retire effective June 1, 2025. My relationship with the IIR and support for its mission will continue. The George Mason Board of Visitors has approved my designation as Professor emeritus, and I will remain on the IIR Advisory Board. But I will step down as IIR Director.

Now for the renewal. For several reasons, I am thrilled that English Professor Lisa M. Gilman will be stepping up as the next Director of the IIR.  Lisa is an accomplished scholar, has been one of the most active Faculty Affiliates, and perhaps most importantly Lisa adds a strong humanities perspective to the IIR. More will follow from Lisa, but I see her vision for the IIR furthering the humanities side of the IIR while maintaining the existing social science foundation. This will round out the IIR’s position as a college-level organization within the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Lisa has my full support and encouragement. I am excited to see the IIR enter this new phase.

As you review the remainder of this newsletter you will see how busy the IIR, its staff, students and faculty affiliates have been as this transition is unfolding. 

First in our Featured Research section of this issues of the IIR Newsletter, you will read how the IIR’s data has helped inform discussions around the history of immigrants in Roanoke, VA. Then in the Team Spotlight section you will read about how IIR Faculty Affiliate, Dr. Carol Cleaveland and former IIR Program Coordinator, Dr. Michele Waslin's book, Private Violence: Latin American Women and the Struggle for Asylum, was recently awarded the 2025 Professional and Scholarly Excellence (PROSE) Award in the category of Applied Psychology and Social Work by the Association of American Publishers. Other notable highlights in this section include IIR Faculty Affiliate Michael Clemens comments in the New York Times on how Federal cuts in funding for USAID could have significant effects on climate migration, while IIR Graduate Research Assistant Umida Hashimova recently published a paper, “Central Asian migrants at the US-Mexico border: An exploration of causes," in the Asian and Pacific Migration Journal. 

The Featured Immigrant Community section of this issue of the IIR Newsletter begins with a link to the work of Mason Graduate student Steven Luu. Steven’s artwork builds on his experiences as a refugee from Vietnam to his time spent as a medic for the U.S. Airforce in Iraq and Afghanistan. Steven exhibited some of his work during the IIR’s Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Arrival of the Vietnamese Boat People event which was held at the end of April.

This section also highlights George Mason University student-athlete, Gabriel Silveria, a Senior in Mason’s School of Integrative Studies, and plays soccer as a left winger for the Men's Soccer team. Gabriel points to IIR Faculty Affiliate Graziella McCarron as his favorite George Mason faculty member. 

The IIR in the News section links to a number of recent articles and quotes by IIR Faculty Affiliates, including Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, Sophia Balakian, Michael Clemens, Carol Cleaveland, Michele Waslin, and Eric McGlinchey. 

The final section of this edition of the Newsletter, Past Events, provides information and links to three IIR Colloquia presentations this spring. In a sign of the times, a fourth presentation by a federal economist, who unfortunately had to withdraw his presentation because agency rules cancelled all outside presentations.

In conclusion, I would like to add that leading the IIR since 2012 has been a privilege. Beginning with Diane Portnoy and the Immigrant Learning Center's (ILC) original gift, the IIR has gained supporters. Funding from the ILC, the Shrivastava Family Foundation, IIR Board members, including Aldo Bello and Jack Censer, and grant funding from AmeriCorps has allowed the IIR to grow. We have offered unique and important insights on the continuing contributions of immigrants from high and low skill workers in essential industries to foreign-born athletes and Nobel Laureates. Our iDod service has produced nearly 500 fact sheets for local communities and provided social science data analysis training opportunities for over 60 students and postdoctoral fellows. 

I look forward to watching the IIR grow and expand its impact under the leadership of Lisa Gilman. The urgency of the IIR's work has never been greater and I am confident that the IIR will remain up to the task at hand.

Sincerely,

Jim 

P.S. International students are vital to the strength of America's higher education system--something we know very well at the IIR. Efforts to disrupt the status of international students and threaten the institutions that sponsor them are an existential challenge to a system that is one of the nation's greatest strengths. To learn more, see our new iDod factsheet on international students.