Felicia Arriaga
Asst Professor
Marxe School of Public and International Affairs
Department: Public Affairs
Areas of expertise:
Email Address: felicia.arriaga@baruch.cuny.edu
> View CV- Biography
- Teaching
- Research and Creative Activity
- Grants
- Honors and Awards
- Service
Dr. Arriaga’s research interests are in the areas of race and ethnicity, immigration, and crimmigration (criminalization of immigration policy and procedure). Her forthcoming book Behind Crimmigration: ICE, Law Enforcement, and Resistance in America highlights how federal immigration enforcement programs are implemented through local law enforcement in the new immigrant destination of North Carolina. Arriaga considers herself a public sociologist and hopes that her scholarship and community work will contribute to more fruitful discussions around crimmigration/polimigra policies. She’s especially interested in how these policies and procedures relate to issues of criminal justice accountability, transparency, reform, and abolition.
Visit her website: https://feliciaarriaga.com/
Education
Ph.D., Sociology, Duke University Durham
M.A., Sociology, Duke University Durham
B.A., Sociology, Duke University Durham
| Semester | Course Prefix | Course Number | Course Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring 2024 | PAF | 9165 | Race, Inequality, and Public P |
| Spring 2024 | PAF | 9165 | Race, Inequality, and Public P |
| Fall 2023 | PAF | 9165 | Race, Inequality, and Public P |
| Fall 2023 | PAF | 3018 | Immigrant Cities |
| Spring 2023 | PAF | 9165 | Race, Inequality, and Public P |
| Spring 2023 | PAF | 9165 | Race, Inequality, and Public P |
Books
Arriaga, F. (2023). Behind Crimmigration: ICE, Law Enforcement, and Resistance in America. UNC Press Books.
Arriaga, F., McDowell, M., & Dillahunt Jr., A. Fighting Police Power in the U.S. South. In Progress.
Journal Articles
(2023). Embracing Abolition. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 1--7.
(2023). Liberatory Research: Bridging the Gap Between Community Organizing and Research. Humanity & Society, 01605976231162337.
(2023). Embracing a Radically Transformative Intellectual Approach. Sociological forum,
(2023). “Stakes is High (Higher than High)”: A Symposium on Doing and Teaching Race Scholarship in Perilous Times Introductory Essay. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 9(4). 431--433.
(2022). A Symposium on Charles W. Mills and The Racial Contract Introductory Essay. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 8(4). 431--432.
(2021). Latina educators in sociology: combating trumpism with critical pedagogy. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 7(1). 134--140.
(2021). Class and the cultural styles applicants present to gatekeepers. Poetics, 86. 101513.
(2021). “We can talk to you, you’re less radical”: reflexivity and developing answerability. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 34(8). 687--699.
(2021). " It's Like Where Do I Belong?": Latinx Undocumented Youth Activism, Identity, and Belonging in North Carolina. Journal of Leadership, Equity, and Research, 7(2). n2.
(2020). Writing in Race: Evidence against Employers’ Assumptions about Race and Soft Skills. Social Problems, 67(4). 677--697.
(2019). Presenting their gendered selves? How women and men describe who they are, what they have done, and why they want the job in their written applications. Sex Roles, 81. 610--626.
(2017). Relationships between the public and crimmigration entities in North Carolina: A 287 (g) program focus. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 3(3). 417--431.
(2016). Understanding crimmigration: Implications for racial and ethnic minorities within the United States. Sociology Compass, 10(9). 805--812.
(2016). Understanding crimmigration: Implications for racial and ethnic minorities within the United States Teaching & Learning Guide. Sociology Compass, 10(9). 805--812.
Book Chapters
(2022). PolICE in Schools: Immigration Enforcement as a Racial Project and Opportunities for Resistance. Race Frames: Structuring Inequality and Opportunity in a Changing Educational Landscape
(2020). Local Immigration Enforcement: Shaping and Maintaining Policies through White Saviors and Economic Motivations . Protecting Whiteness: Whitelash and the Rejection of Racial Equality
(2020). Incarceration during covid-19: Jail shouldn’t be a death sentence. (pp. 25--34). Policy Press.
Presentations
Arriaga, F. Author Meets Critic session for Behind Crimmigration. American Society of Criminology. San Francisco, CA
Arriaga, F. Building Community through Engaged and Applied Research. Society for the Study of Social Problems. Montreal, CanadaIn Progress.
Arriaga, F. Author Meets Critic session for Behind Crimmigration. Society for the Study of Social Problems. Montreal, Canada
Arriaga, F. Author Meets Critic session for Behind Crimmigration. Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. Chicago, IL
Arriaga, F. (2024, April 23). Book Talk: Behind Crimmigration. : UNC-Chapel Hill and Epilogue Books.
Arriaga, F. (2024, June 23). Abolition Challenges in Immigrant Rights. Separate and Unequal. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Law and Society Association.
Arriaga, F. (2024, August 23). Teaching Race and Reflexivity. Same Problem, Different Day: Recognizing and Responding to Recurring Social Problems. Philadelphia, PA: Society for the Study of Social Problems.
Arriaga, F. (2024, March 23). Immigrant Mountaineers Movement Spring Conference. Boone, NC
Arriaga, F. (2024, October 23). Beyond Walls Film Discussion. : Immigrant Justice Coalition of Boone, NC.
Arriaga, F. (2024, May 23). Book Talk: Behind Crimmigration. : Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe.
Arriaga, F. Book Talk: Behind Crimmigration. : Lafayette College.
Arriaga, F. (2024, November 23). Duke University Race Workshop Book Talk: Behind Crimmigration. : Duke University.
Arriaga, F. (2024, May 23). Book Talk: Behind Crimmigration. : Levine Museum of the New South.
Arriaga, F. (2024, May 23). Book Talk: Behind Crimmigration. : Diamante Cultural Arts & Cultural Center.
Arriaga, F. (2024, September 23). Book Talk: Behind Crimmigration. : CUNY Immigration Series.
Arriaga, F. (2024, October 23). OAR Book Talk: Behind Crimmigration. : John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Arriaga, F. (2024, August 23). A History of Sheriffs and White Supremacy in the US . The Sociological Reimagination: From Moments to Momentum. Los Angeles, CA: Society for the Study of Social Problems.
Arriaga, F. (2024, August 23). Author Meets Critics/Educator: hephzibah v. strmic-pawl,UnderstandingRacism: Theories of Oppression andDiscrimination. The Sociological Reimagination: From Moments to Momentum. Los Angeles, CA: Society for the Study of Social Problems.
Arriaga, F. (2024, April 23). Immigrant Mountaineer Movement. Invisibility. Birmingham, AL: Southern Sociological Society.
Arriaga, F. (2024, April 23). Disproportionate Minority Contact and Racism in the US: How We Failed Children of Color by Paul Ketchum and. B. Mitch Peck [Author Meets Curious Readers]. Southern Sociological Society: Theme-Invisibility. Birmingham, AL: Southern Sociological Society.
Arriaga, F. (2024, June 23). Outsourcing US Based Immigrant Detention . Rage, Reckoning, & Remedy. Lisbon, Portugal: Law and Society Association.
Arriaga, F. (2024, August 23). Imagining a World without Police: From Training to Application. Society for the Study of Social Problems.
Arriaga, F. (2024, August 23). COVID-19 in Jails . Society for the Study of Social Problems.
Arriaga, F. (2024, April 23). Where do you fall on the Deportation Continuum? Local Responses to the Devolution of Federal Immigration Enforcement. Southeastern Immigration Studies Association.
Arriaga, F. (2024, August 23). Fighting for U-Visas/Luchando por la Visa U. : Society for the Study of Social Problems.
Arriaga, F. (2024, August 23). State Level Immigration Enforcement Partnerships (canceled due to COVID-19). : Society for the Study of Social Problems.
Arriaga, F. (2024, April 23). Who holds Sheriffs accountable. : Southern Sociological Society.
Arriaga, F., & Rocha-Beardall, T. (2024, June 23). The (In)Dignities of Citizen Complaints Against Police. Law and Society Association.
Arriaga, F. (2024, June 23). Author Meets Reader for Race, Migration, and Crime Control. Law and Society Association.
Arriaga, F. (2024, November 23). Juan Crow in North Carolina: How the Criminal Justice System Controls and Oppresses Latinx Communities. American Society of Criminology.
Arriaga, F. (2024, March 23). Where do you Fall on the Deportation Continuum?. : North Carolina Sociological Association.
Arriaga, F. (2024, October 23). Fighting through the Cozy Consensus of Immigrant Enforcement During Sheriff Elections. Athens, Greece: Solidere Conference.
Arriaga, F. (2024, March 23). Learning and Standing in Solidarity with Border Crossers. Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum Conference.
Arriaga, F. (2024, August 23). Collective Amnesia: White Innocence and Ignorance in the Devolution of Immigration Enforcement. American Sociological Association,.
Arriaga, F. (2024, November 23). You Still Can't Spell PolICE without ICE: Attempts to Reign in Renegade Sheriffs. : Association of Humanist Sociology.
Arriaga, F. (2024, November 23). Where do you Fall on the Deportation Continuum?. : Politics of Race, Immigration, and Ethnicity Consortium (PRIEC).
Arriaga, F. (2024, November 23). Author Meets Critic for From Deportation to Prison: The Politics of Immigration Enforcement in Post-Civil Rights America. : Association of Humanist Sociology.
Arriaga, F. (2024, April 23). Who Will Save Us? Examination of the Faith Action ID program and “Sanctuary” Resolutions as maneuvers in racial triangulation. Southern Sociological Society.
Arriaga, F. (2024, March 23). Tackling the ICE in PolICE Transparency, Accountability, and Reform. UT-Knoxville New Directions in Critical Race Studies.
Arriaga, F. (2024, April 23). Tackling the ICE in PolICE Transparency, Accountability, and Reform. Southern Sociology Society.
Arriaga, F. (2024, August 23). White Ribbon Society: Local Immigration Commissions and Decision-Making. American Sociological Association.
Arriaga, F. (2024, March 23). Opening Plenary. NC Environmental Justice Network Summit.
Arriaga, F. (2024, April 23). Immigration Panel . NC NAACP State Convention.
Arriaga, F. (2024, August 23). Is it Ethnic/Immigrant Profiling? The Challenges of Measuring Race and Ethnicity in Criminal Justice Statistics. Study for the Society of Social Problems.
Arriaga, F. (2024, April 23). Incorporating Art into Lessons on Immigration, Race, and Development in the United States. Southern Sociological Society.
Arriaga, F. (2024, April 23). Relationships between the public and Local Law Enforcement in 287(g) Counties in North Carolina. Southern Sociological Society.
Arriaga, F., & Streib, J. (2024, April 23). A New Look at Race and Soft ‘skills’: Is it possible for employers to differentially hire on real differences in soft skills?. Duke University Higher Learning: Race in Post-Secondary Education Conference.
Arriaga, F. (2024, August 23). National Security and/or Public Safety: Negotiations amongst Crimmigration Law Entities. American Sociological Association.
Arriaga, F. (2024, April 23). Latinx in Higher Education: Perspectives from the Nuevo/New South.. Duke University Higher Learning: Race in Post-Secondary Education Conference.
Arriaga, F. COVID-19 in Jails . Southern Sociological Society.
Arriaga, F. COVID-19 in Jails . North Carolina Sociological Association.
Arriaga, F. Advocating for Our Latinx Community --- Policy and Politics, pero con Ganas!. Carolina Latinx Center Conferencia. Virtual
Arriaga, F., & Avalos, S. Sheriffs Driving Policy: Associations and Influence. Society for the Study of Social Problems. Montreal, CanadaIn Progress.
Arriaga, F. Local Immigration Enforcement: Shaping and Maintaining Policies through White Saviors and Economic Motivations. Southern Sociological Society.
Reviews
Arriaga, F. (1970,January 1). Book Review: Boats, borders, and bases: Race, the Cold War, and the rise of migration detention in the United States. SAGE Publications Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA.
Arriaga, F. (1970,January 1). Disproportionate Minority Contact and Racism in the US: How We Failed Children of Color by Paul R. Ketchum and B. Mitchell Peck. Wiley Online Library.
Research Currently in Progess
Grimsley, E., & Arriaga, F.(n.d.). Understanding the Migrant Crisis in New York City . In Progress.
A Mixed-Method Study Exploring the Nexus Between Government Policies and the Experiences of Migrants
Arriaga, F.(n.d.). Covid-19 Project Write-ups and Publication. In Progress.
The spread of COVID-19 behind bars has magnified both the public health and social consequences of jails, and also the lack of timely, transparent data about who is behind bars and what they are enduring. Since March 2020, when COVID-19 regulations first began in jails and detention centers, the number of outbreaks slowly increased, dropped, then increased again consistent with COVID-19 spikes. Unfortunately, jail overcrowding, aging facilities, and inadequate medical care already present in the criminal justice system continued to exacerbate the likelihood of ongoing outbreaks. This affects staff, incarcerated persons, and the families of those incarcerated. This project collected three rounds of public records requests to all 100 Sheriff and Jail Administrators throughout North Carolina with ongoing content analysis of the information.
Unfortunately, it’s still happening. As of August 23, 2022, 26 jails/correctional facilities in NC had either an outbreak in their staff or in those incarcerated. While this summary level information was made available at the start of the pandemic and continues on today, specific information about the policies and procedures were nowhere to be found. That was the impetus for this research. But still missing from any of this information is the number of those incarcerated, etc.
Arriaga, F.(n.d.). Abolition Challenges in Immigrant Rights: “Before we can talk about the polimigra, we have to talk about racism and white supremacy” Research Project. In Progress.
Martha Hernandez stated this at a recent forum on the polimigra/crimmigration. Martha has been at the front line of fighting against the polimigra in NC for at least a decade but has lived as an undocumented person in the United States all her life. In an interview prior to this event, she described her journey to organizing began when she was in Mexico and naturally moved into organizing against the polimigra in the city she currently resides. She also describes previous efforts in her life to combat police violence in California before she moved to NC. Martha became familiar with efforts to combat the carceral state while she was also fighting against the polimigra, so for her and her friend Griselda Alonso, La Migra, La Policia, La Misma Porqueria (Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the police, the same bullshit) rings true. Yet, many approaches from organizers, lawyers, scholars, etc. when focusing on calls to Abolish ICE solely focus our efforts pushing against the criminalization of immigrants rather than forcing us to consider what an # Abolish Prisons, Police, and ICE framing and scope would encompass. One group-Detention Watch Network-has taken an innovative approach to this question in their newly developed online resource "Ending Immigrant Detention: Abolitionist Steps vs. Reformist Reforms" (2022). This approach is borrowed from the efforts of the group Critical Resistance, who in 2020 offered the one-page guides "Reformist Reforms vs. Abolitionist Steps in Policing" and "Reformist Reforms vs. Abolitionist Steps to End Imprisonment." In those two resources, Critical Resistance uses a matrix to show whether a criminal-legal policy is reformist-meaning it "continues or expands the reach" of the carceral state-or abolitionist-meaning it "chips away and reduces its overall impact" (Critical Resistance 2020a). With those parameters in mind, the Detention Watch Network's "Ending Immigrant Detention" asks similar questions of proposed policies at the local, state, and federal levels:
- Does this reduce the scale of detention and surveillance?
- Does this chip away at the current system without creating new harms or helping some people at the expense of others?
- Does this provide relief to people who could be or are currently detained or under surveillance?
Some of us recognize that piecemeal reforms will continue to just remix policies that will continue to disproportionately harm immigrant and oppressed communities. Because ICE is a federal agency, accountability for this agency has to be a national effort with clear targets. Using interview data and publicly available content from community forums with immigrant rights organizers, this paper dives into the challenges immigrant rights organizers face when tackling immigration enforcement and where there are possibilities for abolitionist approaches. I also argue that their legal consciousness and political participation is shaped in two ways: 1) by their “integration” into racialized communities and 2) by the barriers associated with political participation for noncitizens. While many of these organizers take an abolitionist approach, they also exist within a legal field that often normalizes the good/bad immigrant dichotomy.
Arriaga, F.(n.d.). Mapping Lineages of Power Research. In Progress.
Arriaga, F.(n.d.). Sheriffs Driving Policy. In Progress.
| Honor / Award | Organization Sponsor | Date Received | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outstanding Book Award | The Academy of Criminal Justice Science | 2024-03-22 | In recognition of the best book published in the area of criminal justice. Nominations for the Outstanding Book Award are restricted to members of the Academy. Individuals who are involved in the production of a book, or who have a financial interest in it, may not nominate that book for this award. |
| Choice Editors Pick | https://www.choice360.org/choice-pick/editors-picks-for-january-2024/ | 2024-01-01 | In this important regional study on the criminalization of immigration—i.e., crimmigration—Arriaga (Baruch College, CUNY) examines how a federal immigration enforcement program, which allows state and local law enforcement agencies to collaborate with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), operated throughout North Carolina. Arriaga discusses how the process of crimmigration became invisible and normalized at a time when the Latinx population—documented and undocumented—increased dramatically in that state. She also looks at how the Latinx community challenged intergovernmental crimmigration policies, practices, and politics. Arriaga sees the assigning of immigration enforcement responsibilities (which may lead to incarceration and deportation) to county commissioners and sheriff’s offices as an example of the “devolution of immigration federalism” (p. 4). This volume will interest students in the fields of crimmigration, criminology, sociology, legal studies, and immigration studies. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals. —A. J. Trevino, Wheaton College |
| Reading Pick for Hispanic Heritage Month | Cardinal & Pine | 2023-09-26 | https://cardinalpine.com/2023/09/26/nc-bookstores-share-their-reading-picks-for-hispanic-heritage-month/ |
College
| Committee Name | Position Role | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public Affairs Club | Faculty Advisor | Present | |
| Center for Teaching and Learning Faculty Advisory Committee | Committee Member | Present | |
| Curriculum Committee | Committee Member | Present |
Professional
| Organization | Position Role | Organization State | Organization Country | Start Date | End Date | Audience |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SSSP Racial and Ethnic Minority Fellowship Review Committee | Chairperson | 1/1/2023 | Present | National | ||
| ASA Public Understanding of Sociology Awaard | Committee Member | 1/1/2023 | Present | National | ||
| Southern Sociological Society Conference Program Committee | Committee Member | 1/1/2023 | Present | Regional | ||
| Sociology of Race and Ethnicity | Editorial Review Board Member | 8/1/2021 | Present | International | ||
| National Science Foundation | Reviewer, Grant Proposal | 8/1/2022 | Present | International | ||
| Sociology of Race and Ethnicity | Editor, Journal Editor | 8/1/2021 | Present | International | ||
| Social Problems | Editorial Review Board Member | 8/1/2021 | Present | International | ||
| Society for the Study of Social Problems Racial and Ethnic Minorities Division | Committee Chair | 8/14/2020 | 8/12/2022 | National | ||
| Society for the Study of Social Problems Law & Society Section | Committee Chair | 8/16/2019 | 8/14/2020 | National |
Public
| Organization | Position Role | Organization State | Organization Country | Start Date | End Date | Audience |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NC Immigrant Rights Alliance | Committee Member | Present | State | |||
| NC Scholar's Strategy Network Equity Working Group | Co-Chair | North Carolina | Present | State | ||
| ACLU-NC | Board Member | North Carolina | Present | State | ||
| Cypress Fund Movement Committee | Board Member | Present | State | |||
| Sheriffs for Trusting Communities | Chairperson | North Carolina | United States | Present | National | |
| Durham City Council Human Relations Commission | Committee Member | North Carolina | Present | Local | ||
| NC House Select Committee on Community Relations: Law Enforcement and Justice | Committee Member | North Carolina | Present | State | ||
| El Pueblo Inc. | Chairperson | North Carolina | United States | Present | State | |
| Ignite NC Action Fund | Chairperson | North Carolina | Present | State |