Guest speaks on ‘Christian Identity, Immigration and Crime’ tonight
How do Evangelical Latina/o immigrants use their faith to contest “crimmigration,” or the increasing collaboration between local police and immigration enforcement?
Join us for a special presentation, “Christian Identity, Immigration and Crime,” presented by Dr. Melissa Guzman, assistant professor of sociology at San Francisco State University, tonight (Wednesday) from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in Canyon Commons 101.
Based on two years of ethnographic research conducted across different Evangelical Mexican and Central American congregations in California, Guzman examines how the everyday lives of undocumented Latina/o migrants are structured by the criminal justice system, as they negotiate the constant threat of deportation, avoid criminalization, and use their Christian identities to establish a sense of spiritual legitimacy in their communities.
By documenting how Evangelical Latina/o migrants negotiate their religious identities in a context of crime and immigration, her research shows how criminalization affects different individuals in a community, not just the ones who come into direct contact with the criminal justice system by being arrested or deported.
Her work lies at the intersection of:
- Ethnographic research
- Immigration communities
- Religious identities
- Criminal justice
All are invited. Contact Aida Ramos (aramos@georgefox.edu) for more information.