Sociologist studying the lived experiences of immigrants, focusing on the roles of immigration law and race/ethnicity in shaping these experiences across the United States and globally.

Jozef C. Robles is a sociology Ph.D. Candidate at the University of California, Irvine. The primary focus of his research agenda is to explore issues of immigration, race/ethnicity, and law through a variety of research methods, particularly emphasizing interview and ethnographic methodologies, to gain a nuanced understanding of their societal impacts.

Jozef’s work has been published in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Critical Sociology, Border Criminologies, and Contexts Magazine, and has received support from several grants and fellowships, including those from the American Sociological Association and the Russell Sage Foundation. His work has also been honored with the Cristina Maria Riegos Student Paper Award by the ASA Latinx Sociology Section, and received additional recognition and support from the Law and Society Association, the Ford Foundation (Honorable Mention), the Institute for Humane Studies, and the University of California, Berkeley.

Jozef’s dissertation, “The Transformative Effects of U.S. Immigration Law Post Legal Status Regularization: A Comparative Analysis,” examines how formerly undocumented immigrants experience shifts in their social, emotional, and legal lives after gaining lawful status. Drawing on in-depth interviews and ethnographic observations across California and Texas, the project shows that legalization transforms individuals’ relationships with state institutions, their understandings of racial identity and hierarchy, their legal consciousness, and their everyday social landscapes across different socio-political contexts. His dissertation is advised by Dr. Irene Vega and guided by a committee including Dr. Rocio Rosales, Dr. Ruben Rumbaut, and Dr. Julia Lerch.

Looking ahead, Jozef’s research will continue to unravel how racialization and the notion of immigrant illegality synergize, both within the United States and in a global context, to forge a distinctive form of oppression for various racialized immigrant groups. 

“As I began to establish my life as a young adult in the U.S., I began to more fully grasp what it means to be undocumented in the U.S. I graduated from high school in 2006 and immediately began pursuing higher education. Ultimately, school became too much to juggle with work, and my own feelings of failure sabotaged my efforts to overcome academic obstacles, leading me to drop out. My master status as an immigrant meant that establishing a career rather than just a job in the U.S was quixotic, which perpetuated the thought that my education would not matter. In 2013, through the Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, I was granted the ability to work and establish a life in the U.S. without constant fear of deportation. With the difficulties of being undocumented partially eliminated, I gained a new sense of confidence in my abilities to succeed in the country I call home. I returned to community college with renewed determination. Today, I hold two Associate degrees in social sciences with Honors from Santiago Canyon Community College, a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, with President’s Honors, from California State University, Long Beach, and a Master of Arts in Sociology, with graduate distinction, from California State University, Fullerton. I am currently on track to graduate with a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Irvine.”

  • Ph.D, Sociology

    University of California, Irvine

    In Progress | Expected 2026

  • MA, Sociology

    California State University, Fullerton

    2021

  • BA, Sociology

    California State University, Long Beach

    2019

  • AA, Liberal Arts

    Santiago Canyon College

    2017