The goals of the Woodson Martin Immigration and Democracy Initiative at the James Madison Center for Civic Engagement are to:
- expand the electorate to include greater voice from historically marginalized groups,
- educate the campus and broader Harrisonburg/Rockingham communities on immigration issues,
- help remove barriers to deeper democratic engagement, and
- collaborate with the local immigrant and refugee communities on civic learning and democratic engagement opportunities.
Featured Upcoming Events
Check back in Fall 2023 for updates on events and programming.
Upcoming Events
- April 28th, 2023: Cultura y Comunidad 2023: Immigration and our Schools
- Festival Ballroom, 8:30 am
- June 20: World Refugee Day
- October 28: National Immigrants Day
- September 17- September 24: Global Climate Change Week
Past Events
Learning Resources
- Immigration Definitions at a Glance
- The Democracy Docket: Ukraine One Year Later
- The Democracy Docket: Updates to DACA and its Implications: A Democratic Nightmare for Dreamers?
- The Democracy Docket: Finding Common Ground Between Border Security and Respect for Human Rights
- Contemporary Immigration Policies
- U.S. Democracy and the Latino/a/x Community Article by the Scholar's Latino Initiative
JMU Faculty Research and Projects
Below are selected relevant readings on migration, immigration and refugee policy issues from James Madison University Faculty. Click here to view additional scholarship.
Daniel J. Beers, "The End Of Resettlement? U.S. refugee policy in the age of Trump." Social Sciences, 9(8), 129.
Daniel J. Beers, Repatriation, Refugees, and Returning Home by Katy Long. Refuge Book Reviews, 81–83.
Daniel J. Beers, Robert Fatton, Jr., Haiti: Trapped in the Outer Periphery. PERSPECTIVES ON POLITICS, 12(4), 942-942.
Dávila Ellis, Verónica, "When the Barrios Hear Her Song." Oxford American.
Harrisonburg 360 podcast by Dr. Allison Fagan, chair of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies program, and JMU students
Allison Fagan, From the Edge: Chicana/o Border Literature and the Politics of Print
David Trouille, Immigrant Stories
David Trouille, Fútbol in the Park: Immigrants, Soccer, and the Creation of Social Ties
David Trouille, "Neighborhood outsiders, field insiders: Latino immigrant men and the control of public space." Qualitative Sociology, 36(1): 1-22.
Case Watkins, Sluyter, A., Chaney, J. P., & Gibson, A. M. N. (2015). Hispanic and Latino New Orleans: Immigration and identity since the eighteenth century. Louisiana State University Press.
Laura H. Zarrugh, “From Workers to Owners: Latino Entrepreneurs in Harrisonburg, Virginia“
Laura H. Zarrugh, “The Latinization of the Central Shenandoah Valley“
