Institute for Immigration Research Newsletter

Dear Friends of the IIR,

It has been a fulfilling first six months of serving as IIR’s Director. The deep commitment and initiative of our excellent staff have enabled us to continue and to expand longtime IIR projects while launching a new initiative dedicated to building strength in migration, arts, culture, and storytelling. We have also made strides in our efforts to build a stronger network of immigration work on campus and in the greater Washington D.C. region.

We have made significant progress across IIR’s three priorities: 

Goal #1 Research: Shift attitudes through impactful research and dissemination of information about immigrant contributions to U.S. society (economic, occupational, social, and cultural).  
Goal #2 Center: Build and promote Mason as a center of immigrant research and programming nationally and internationally.  
Goal #3 Outreach & Education: Produce accessible materials and events to build community and educate the public to equip them with the tools they need to document and promote the value of immigrant contributions to U.S. society. 

We officially hired Dr. Marissa Kiss, longtime IIR staff member, to be our Assistant Director. Under her leadership, we are strategizing how to increase the impact of IIR’s signature project Immigration Data on Demand (iDod). Dr. Kiss’s team—Graduate Research Assistants (GRA) Umida Hashimova (sociology) and Zach Nauful (linguistics) and volunteer Anika Fenn Gilman (geography)—responds to requests to create unbiased and objective fact sheets related to immigrants and immigration in the United Sates. We have increased our outreach to augment iDod’s visibility so that academics, policy makers, and the public have access to data in a format specific to their needs. We invite our readers to explore iDod’s factsheets, make requests through the portal, and share this resource with your networks.

We are continuing IIR’s longstanding story-centered projects. In December 2025, under the leadership of Dr. Kiss and GRA Umida Hashimova, we published our annual Nobel Laureate report - Displaced Nobel Laureates in the 20th and 21st Century. We are in the process of preparing the 2026 report that will examine immigrant Nobel Laurates in literature.  

This year’s theme for our Immigrant Stories project is immigrant entrepreneurs. We are excited to profile Luiz DaCosta and Colette Phillips, the 2025 winner of IIR’s partner the Immigrant Learning Center’s Barry M. Portnoy Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards.  

We have been busy building our arts, culture, and storytelling initiative under the multifaced Leaving and Belonging umbrella.

Ezgi Benli-Garcia, an ethnomusicologist who joined our team as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in August 2025, is working with GRA Aditi Goel (communications) and undergraduate researcher Chris Vitello (anthropology) to produce a digital storytelling project. This project documents and disseminates Mason students’ narratives of leaving someplace comfortable and entering someplace new to highlight that movement is part and parcel of human experience for all people.  

On April 17th and April 18th, the IIR is hosting a working symposium, "Leaving and Belonging: Making an Impact on Immigration and Displacement through Arts, Culture, and Storytelling”. This symposium brings together researchers, artists, immigrant serving organizations, arts and cultural managers, filmmakers, and policy makers from across the United States and world to share best practices, identify challenges and gaps, and develop strategies for impactful work at the intersection of immigration and arts.  
 
The IIR is also collaborating with Mason Exhibitions and units on campus to produce an art and migration exhibit tentatively scheduled for Fall 2027. We plan to collaborate with immigrant communities in the DMV to co-cocurate an exhibit that showcases the stories and talents of peoples who came to the United States at different periods and under different circumstances.  
 
We have also made strides with our outreach and networking efforts:  

• We held an initial meet and greet in October 2025 for Mason students interested in immigration-related research. At our Spring 2026 student gathering on March 25th (2-4 PM) we will offer a workshop on ethics and strategies of doing research on sensitive topics and with vulnerable people.
• On February 20th, (2-3:30 PM) the IIR will host a virtual meet and greet for Mason faculty, staff, and students who are engaged in immigration-related work. It will be an opportunity for IIR to share our vision and activities, for us to learn about one’s another work, and to strategize collectively about how IIR can best support migration-related work on campus. Register for the event here.
• In collaboration with colleagues in the greater Washington D.C. area, the IIR has been a leader in creating the DMV Immigration Research Network. This emerging network brings together people working on immigrant-related research in the DMV to share information, foster collaboration, and support and reinforce one another’s work. Anyone interested in joining should send an email to me at iir@gmu.edu. 

It is gratifying to lead the IIR at a time when our work is critically important. The dedication of our staff, the support of our board members, and the undying commitment of everyone in our expanding networks makes this work possible and energizing. Thank you. 
  
Sincerely, 
Lisa Gilman, PhD 
Director, Institute for Immigration Research 
Professor, Folklore and English 

IIR Affiliate Faculty, Dr. Sophia Balakian's book, "Unsettled Families: Refugees, Humanitarianism, and the Politics of Kinship" has been named a 2025 Outstanding Academic Title by Choice.

IIR Affiliate Tyler Cowen: Why ‘Humane’ Immigration Policy Ends in Cruelty

Michele Waslin quoted: States pushing immigration reforms, but are still limited by federal authority

Michael Clemens, Department of Economics, quoted in Forbes about impact of new immigration rule

Research from the IIR was cited in Newsday

Research from the IIR was cited in ESPN

IIR Director, Dr. Lisa Gilman is quoted in The New York Times

Former IIR Director, Dr. Jim Witte was quoted in Nautilus

Dr. Marissa Kiss was featured on the Immigration Nerds Podcast

Dr. Marissa Kiss and Dr. Jim Witte recent op-ed was published with the Tribune News Service