About the session:
This presentation explores how inclusive immigration policies can generate spillover benefits that positively impact not only immigrants but also the broader society. By examining the ripple effects of welcoming and supportive immigration measures, we can see how these policies help foster stronger communities, enhance economic opportunities, and promote social cohesion. The discussion aims to highlight the interconnected ways in which inclusivity in immigration leads to widespread advantages for everyone.
The presentation will center on how immigrant-friendly policies generate individual, community, state, and federal level benefits for all. I will draw on research to illustrate this argument and counteract public messages of immigrants as a "drain" to US society. 

About the speaker:
Dr. Vanessa Delgado is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Washington State University. Broadly, her work explores the incorporation pathways of low-income Latino/a immigrant families. She employs qualitative methods to examine how immigration laws exacerbate social and economic inequality among low-income Latino/a immigrants and their children. She is the 2025-2026 inaugural Faculty-in-Residence at the WSU Multicultural Student Services Center. She is also a 2025-2026 Visiting Poverty Scholar at the Center for Poverty and Inequality Research at the University of California, Davis. She has published 13 peer-reviewed articles and numerous policy briefs on matters that span immigration, immigrant families, and education. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Irvine in 2022.

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