Zepeda-Millán on the U.S.-Mexico Border Wall

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Chris Zepeda-Millán, associate professor of public policy at UCLA Luskin, commented in an Independent story on the current status of the U.S.-Mexico border wall eight years after President-elect Donald Trump made it a central part of his 2016 campaign. According to the story, illegal immigration increased during Trump’s major border wall construction push and hit record levels in 2023 during the Biden administration, with the wall “neither preventing nor deterring the things it was designed to stop.” Zepeda-Millán, who has conducted public opinion polling about why people support the wall, said, “Most Americans, even those who support the wall, know that it’s not going to produce the claimed effect, which then leads to the question: Why support it? Why build it?” Zepeda said he sees a parallel with Trump’s promises to deport millions of undocumented people: “The economy would collapse if he actually deported 11 million undocumented people. … Inflation would skyrocket.”

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Zepeda-Millán on Anti-Immigration Campaign Rhetoric

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Chris Zepeda-Millán, associate professor of public policy at UCLA Luskin, commented in a U.S. News & World Report story on anti-immigration rhetoric used by presidential candidate Donald Trump on the 2024 campaign trail. The story suggests that while the former president’s messaging could repel Latino voters the final weeks before the general election, he could possibly sway a small group that could make the difference, notably in swing states. “His courting of the Latino vote is definitely a legitimate concern for the Harris campaign and for Democrats in general,” said Zepeda-Millán, who also holds appointments in Chicana/o Studies and Political Science. While the goal of Trump and Republicans may not be to win a majority of Latino voters, he added, “they just want to confuse enough Latino voters to either not go out and vote or to shave enough off from the Democrats in order to weaken Latinos as a voting bloc.”

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A Closer Inspection of Trump’s Comments on Immigration

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A Los Angeles Times article about Donald Trump’s statements about actions he would take if reelected asked UCLA Luskin’s Chris Zepeda-Millán to weigh in on the former president’s comments on immigration. Trump has said he will “seal the border” with a physical wall, “carry out the largest deportation operation in American history,” order the military to attack foreign drug cartels and do away with birthright citizenship. While there is debate about whether to take the candidate at his word or chalk up his comments to populist rhetoric, Trump’s recent comments are his way of “doubling down on getting the most racist white Americans out to vote,” said Zepeda-Millán, associate professor of public policy and co-author of “Walls, Cages, and Family Separation: Race and Immigration Policy in the Trump Era.” Zepeda-Millán’s research shows that most Americans did not support Trump’s first-term immigration policies, and those who did held the “most racist views,” including general discomfort with growing Latino populations.

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UCLA Strategic Labor Research Conference Unites Diverse Coalition of Researchers, Activists

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In a keynote address at this month’s UCLA Strategic Labor Research Conference, Kim Kelly, journalist, organizer and author of “Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor,” spoke about the unifying potential of the labor movement in our polarized society. “Every struggle is connected,” she said. “At every protest you can think of, for every cause or issue you can imagine, almost every person you see there is going to have to clock into work the next day. Labor is one of the few truly universal experiences in our divided society.” Now in its second year, the conference held Aug 2-4 at the Luskin School provided a valuable educational and networking opportunity for individuals and organizations that leverage research and data to improve work standards and advance social justice. In workshops, talks and panels, participants learned how intricate policy details, geographic data about constituents and detailed corporate earnings reports could be used to maximize the efficacy of labor and economic justice campaigns. “The conference provides an exciting opportunity for cross-fertilization, with researchers realizing that they have a lot in common and are organizing against the same targets. There’s a coalition building that happens, not only within movements but between them as well,” said Chris Zepeda-Míllan, UCLA Labor Studies chair and associate professor of public policy and Chicana/o and Central American studies, who initiated the annual conference. This year’s gathering drew 200 attendees from across North America, including labor researchers and those working in adjacent social movements such as climate change, food justice and housing. — Willa Needham

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UCLA Strategic Labor Research Conference

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Hosted by the UCLA Labor Studies Program, the annual UCLA Strategic Labor Research Conference will include discussions about strategic campaigns designed for new and experienced union and labor movement researchers, as well as workshops on applied skills. The conference will take place at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.
Applications for this free conference were due May 17. Sign up here to receive updates about future strategic labor research opportunities.
Conference highlights:
  • Keynote speaker is Kim Kelly, author of “Fight Like Hell:The Untold History of American Labor.”
  • Keynote panel will focus on “Strategic Campaigning and the Green Economy.”
  • More than 20 workshops will feature topics such as “FOIA & Public Records Requests,” “California Labor Policy Strategies,” “Moving From Research to Campaign” and “Researching With Workers.”
SEE FULL CONFERENCE DETAILS

Uncovering Climate Hazards in California’s Prisons

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A San Francisco Chronicle article highlighted research by UCLA Luskin master of public policy students who found that California’s prison system is not prepared to respond to climate emergencies that threaten the well-being of the state’s incarcerated population. Their report, produced on behalf of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, used a mixed methods approach that included interviews with experts, a spatial analysis and a survey of nearly 600 currently incarcerated people in all 34 of California’s prison facilities. The study found evidence of power outages and generator failures, a lack of shade in outdoor spaces, and a lack of access to air-conditioned spaces or heated facilities during extreme weather events. Sixty-one percent of survey respondents said they experienced heat exhaustion while incarcerated. The researchers, MPP ’23 graduates Aishah Abdala, Abhilasha Bhola, Guadalupe Gutierrez, Eric Henderson and Maura O’Neill, offered a series of policy recommendations aimed at keeping incarcerated people safe, protecting taxpayer interests and ensuring that government institutions are held accountable.

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Zepeda-Millán on Effects of the LAUSD Strike

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Chris Zepeda-Millán, associate professor of public policy and chair of UCLA’s labor studies program, was cited in an article by The Progressive about how school staff won key victories after a major strike in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). In March, members of Service Employees Union Local 99 were able to negotiate with the LAUSD and approve a new contract that will increase the average annual salary from $25,000 to $33,000, increase the minimum wage to $22.52 and provide other benefits. Zepeda-Millán said that the labor action provided an advantage to the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) in their own negotiations with the district, which have led to a tentative agreement. UTLA is larger than Local 99 and helped elect many school board members.

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Zepeda-Millán on What’s Ahead for LAUSD

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Chris Zepeda-Millán, associate professor of public policy, spoke to the Daily News about labor issues at the Los Angeles Unified School District and the road ahead for Superintendent Alberto Carvalho. After a three-day strike, LAUSD reached a contract with service workers including bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers and instructional aides. Now the district must negotiate a settlement with the teachers union, which has the upper hand, said Zepeda-Millán, chair of UCLA’s labor studies program. “The district knows [the unions] can shut [schools] down pretty easily,” he said. “That’s going to be in the back of both teams’ minds as they’re negotiating.” If successful,  the negotiations could strengthen the superintendent’s influence. “Carvalho has a chance to say, ‘I’m going to do things differently this time and let’s show the state and the country that if we have well-paid teachers, smaller class sizes — what all the research says works — we could have great public schools again,’” he said.

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Zepeda-Millán on Damage to Labor’s Influence

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A Los Angeles Times column on an L.A. labor leader’s role in the scandal that has upended city politics cited Chris Zepeda-Millán, associate professor of public policy. Ron Herrera resigned his post as leader of the L.A. County Federation of Labor after a leaked recording of a racist conversation that also involved three City Council members. Union members across the country were shaken by the recording, which undermined the labor principle that workers must stick together to ensure dignity for all. The timing of the leak, weeks before the midterm elections, also threatens voters’ trust in organized labor, one of the most powerful political players in California and the country. “With a scandal this bad, with the L.A. Federation of Labor being involved, it could really do some long-term damage,” said Zepeda-Millán, who chairs the labor studies interdepartmental program at UCLA.

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