For this episode, I sat down with Jody Agius Vallejo, Professor of Sociology and American Studies and Ethnicity and Associate Director of the USC Equity Research Institute. In Part 1 of our conversation, we talk about the climate of hostility and fear in Southern California created by widespread ICE raids, and we give context to the current moment by examining the history of immigration to places like Fullerton.

Here are some references provided by Prof. Vallejo:

Seven Facts on Immigration that Every American Should Know, by Jody Agius Vallejo and Clara Alvarez Caraveo, USC Equity Research Institute

New Gallup poll on immigration: note the record high support of immigration as a benefit to the nation as well as the substantial support for a pathway to citizenship for undocumented people currently in the country now. Also of note is that the majority of Americans disapprove Trump’s handling of immigration.

THE groundbreaking source on the development of the Mexican communities in OC as a result of the citrus industry:

Gonzalez, Gilbert. 1994. Labor and Community: Mexican Citrus Worker Villages in a Southern California County, 1900-1950

My most recent op-ed

2025 Californians Must Refuse to Abandon the Immigrants Among Us. Los Angeles Times (with Manuel Pastor).

Academic articles

Lee, Erika. 2007. “The ‘yellow peril’ and Asian Exclusion in the Americas.” Pacific Historical Review. 76:4 pp. 537-562

Ngai, Mai. 1999. The Architecture of Race in American Immigration Law: A reexamination of the Immigration Act of 1924. The Journal of American History. 86: N1 pp. 79-92

Excellent substacks to follow to stay up to date on evolving immigration issues:

Migrant Insider

Letters from an American

Austin Kocher

Data Sources

USC Equity Research Institute’s California Immigrant Data Portal (CIDP)

Deportation Detention Project

Read Jesse's Brief History of Immigration to Fullerton HERE.

To follow Jesse's research and writing about the history of Fullerton, check out www.fullertonhistory.com.

Episode 8: Immigration Then & Now Featuring Prof. Jody Agius Vallejo (Part 1)