Dr. Camelia Tigau

(October 2024)

Research on Skilled Migration in the Sonora-Arizona border region

Dr. Camelia Tigau, a research professor at the Center for Research on North America (CISAN) of the National Autonomous University ofMexico (UNAM), conducted an academic residency at our university from October 11 to 20, 2024. Her stay was highly productive and successfully fulfilled the objectives she had outlined, which are part of the activities of the UA-UNAM Binational Research Consortium on Migration, Human Security, and Human Rights.

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During her residency, Dr. Tigau worked with Dr. Luis Coronado Guel, Director of SBS Mexico Initiatives and adjunct professor in the Departments of History, Mexican American Studies, and the Binational Migration Institute, as well as with Dr. Daniel Martínez, research professor at the School of Sociology and the Department of Mexican American Studies, and co-director of the Binational Migration Institute at the University of Arizona. They carried out joint research activities exploring areas of collaboration for the development of a future protocol and research proposal on the topic of skilled migration in the Sonora-Arizona border region.

Dr. Tigau also conducted searches and consultations using resources from UA libraries and specialized digital media available on campus, and she explored potential external funding sources for the proposed project. Meetings were held with professors, students, interviewees, and representatives of local organizations related to the subject, as well as with UNAM Tucson officials to explore potential collaboration.

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In addition, Dr. Tigau delivered two hybrid-format lectures co-organized by SBS Mexico Initiatives, the Binational Migration Institute, UNAM Tucson, and the Mexican Consulate in Tucson, with support from CISAN and UNAM's Humanities Coordination. These lectures were part of the Trinational Permanent Seminar on Emerging Human Security Actors in North America and the UA-UNAM Binational Research Consortium on Migration, Human Rights, and Human Security. Recorded lectures are available here:

Factoring Transnational Diasporas in the Rise of the US as a Great Power and Multi-Cultural Society, delivered on Monday, October 14, in hybrid format and broadcast on Facebook via SBS Mexico Initiatives.

Paradoxes of Discrimination Against Professionals of Mexican Origin in the United States (Paradojas de discriminación en los profesionistas de origen mexicano en Estados Unidos), delivered at the Mexican Consulate in Tucson and broadcast via institutional channels of both universities.

As part of her research residency, a field trip was conducted along the Interstate 19 border route connecting Tucson with the border cities of Nogales (on both the Mexican and US sides) to conduct participant observation and collect information. The trip included observations of the land routes and storage facilities of the largest agricultural product distribution corridor in the United States, vehicular and rail border crossings, the border wall, and historical markers of the geographic boundaries. Visits were also made to two missions on the Padre José Eusebio Kino route—San Xavier del Bac and Tumacácori—both of which are US national monuments and parks. These reconnaissance trips aimed to expand historical, social, cultural, and economic perspectives on the Sonora-Arizona border to solidify the development of the proposed project on skilled migration and alternative diplomacy.