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Immigrants and Refugees

Topic Guide on Immigrants and Refugees - their plight, resources, and the laws around immigration

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Subject/Keywords

Human Rights

Displaced Persons

Refugee

Social Justice

Migrant

Related Resources

Center for Research on International Migration, School of Social Science

Political Science Research Guide

Anthropology Research Guide

Social Science Data Research Guide

Sociology Research Guide

Related Guides

Criminology, Law & Society 

News Articles

Check out the News & Newspaper Guide for more info.

What is in this guide?

This guide is intended as a starting point for research on immigration and refugee issues.  It is not intended to be comprehensive.

The resources included are a mix of databases licensed for use by UC Irvine faculty, staff, and students and freely available internet resources. Community users who wish to use a licensed resource should visit a campus library for access or assistance.

The individual pages (blue tabs on left) are outlined below.


  • What is an immigrant or refugee? -- provides basic definitions some of the terms used in the discussion of immigration issues.  Many of the terms used have specific legal meanings that impact policy decisions.
  • Trouble @ the US/Mexico Border -- these resources will provide an overview of the topic, help you outline various aspects of the immigration controversies, and government materials.
  • Find Journal Articles -- journal articles, especially scholarly and peer reviewed articles will help you explore specific aspects of the topic in more depth.
  • U.S. Immigration Law -- use this page to locate statutory, regulatory, and case law.  It provides an overview of immigration law, links to key statutes, to Executive Orders and to case law as well as links to key UCI databases.
  • Mixed Media -- this page links you to various media, maps and forms which allow you to view immigration information through new lens and perspectives.
  • Policy Papers  --  find key resources that discuss immigration policy, included are think tanks and pro-con resources.
  • International Law -- includes links to key treaties
  • Interest Groups -- includes links to advocacy groups on both sides of the immigration issue
  • International Organizations -- provides links to international intergovernmental organizations such as the EU, UN, and OAS with interest in issues of migration and refugees, as well as non-governmental organization that work on these issues.
  • Statistics and Data -- will provide you with links to data sources on immigration, undocumented immigration, and refugees in the U.S. and worldwide.
  • DACA -- resources that outline the Dreamers, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, situation as it stands in limbo as well as UCI community support, research and news.

Current News

Collected Topic Pages

Washington Post: Immigration

New York Times: Immigration and Emigration

Los Angeles Times: Immigration

*Access Newspaper Articles in Databases*

Politico: Immigration

CNN: Immigration

Voice of America: Immigration

NBC News: Immigration

The Guardian: US Immigration

Fox New: Immigration

Pew Research: Immigration

Business Ethics

News Articles Mixing Immigration and Business Ethics

Policy Perspectives from Business Roundtable (Medium)

Thompson Reuters and ICE from The Intercept

Microsoft and ICE from Vanity Fair

Children to Teenagers black and white photograph early 20th century

This guide is meant to serve as a starting point for research and is not meant to be exhaustive collection of works. 

Source Material: A big thank you to all community sources including Sarah Pickle from Claremont Colleges, Amanda Davis from Rosemont College, Brain Bess from Huntsville-Madison County Public Library in Alabama, Ethan Annis from Dominican University of California, Sacramento State, and Laine Thielstron from Colby College.