CISS Post-Doc Tatiana Padilla Sheds New Light on Immigration Raids

  • By: Lilian Belisle

Immigration enforcement and deportation rates vary dramatically across communities—particularly patterned by location, race, and gender. Immigration raids, targeted, legal operations that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) perform in an effort to find and arrest those they believe are in violation of immigration laws, are among the most aggressive tactics within US immigration policy (Action). ICE agents can perform such a raid on homes, workplaces, or even general public spaces. However, surprisingly little is known about why some areas are targeted, and the far-reaching consequences of these raids for local communities. Not only is comprehensive data lacking regarding their scale and geographic patterning , but there is also a dearth of information about the profiles of heavily impacted areas. As a result, the impacts and consequences of immigration raids remain inadequately documented.

Through a new research project, Center for Innovation in Social Science Post-Doctoral Fellow Tatiana Padilla intends to shed light on the complex landscape of immigration raids, providing a pathbreaking analysis of their prevalence, patterns, and the diverse impacts on communities, ultimately contributing to a more nuanced understanding of immigration enforcement experiences in the United States. Her research project has two major goals:

  1. Documenting the frequency and geographical distribution of immigration raids over time in the United States, to provide a comprehensive understanding of their dynamics.
  2. Identifying the characteristics of communities affected by these raids, aiming to discover who different communities in the U.S. experience and cope with immigration enforcement practices.

Tatiana Padilla - Postdoctoral Researcher - Boston University | LinkedInTatiana Padilla received her PhD at the Cornell University’s Brooks School of Public Policy in 2023. She joined the Center for Innovation in Social Science in Fall 2023 as an inaugural CISS postdoctoral fellow, working with Dr. Nazli Kibria. Dr. Padilla’s research examines intersectional minority experiences and the socioeconomic consequences of U.S. migration policy and immigration enforcement. Through rigorous quantitative research and creative data wrangling, Dr. Padilla is committed to understanding the drivers of inequality and the unintended consequences of policy. Dr. Padilla’s journey as a social scientist is fueled by a deep desire to inform current and urgent policy debates. To that end, she fosters collaborative research relationships with organizations, policymakers, advocacy groups, and stakeholders. As my research progresses, She strives to engage a broad range of audiences by publishing in peer-reviewed journals and translating research findings. As a first-generation immigrant, she approaches her work from a global perspective. She deeply believes in an immigration system that improves the livelihood of both sending and receiving communities, bridges cultures, fosters integration, and upholds dignity. For more information on Dr. Padilla’s research and publications, see her webpage here.

Dr. Padilla is supported by a team of more than two dozen undergraduate research assistants, providing them with hands-on research experience and a profound understanding of the pervasiveness and profound impact of immigration raids (meet the research assistants at the end of this article).

Interviews with the project RAs revealed the impact of Dr. Padilla’s work – both for social policy and for the personal experiences of the RAs themselves.  With the goal of making space for students with no prior research experience, Dr. Padilla ensured that students interested in the project could join the team, even if they had not previously done social science research. According to Dr. Padilla, her hope with this study is for students to gain transferable skills from the hands-on experience of data scraping and conducting research. The experiences of working with people the students didn’t already know, engaging in problem-solving, and investigating the definition of an immigration raid are designed to facilitate growth in students’ critical thinking and analysis abilities. 

Additionally, she’s worked to infuse elements of professional development into the day-to-day structure of the project. For example, she asks students to produce a midterm review of their progress, identify their goals, and communicate when they need help. She believes these layers of accountability and communicated feedback will build habits necessary to the working world. Dr. Padilla also holds weekly “coffee chats” where she invites RAs to ask questions about everything from applying to graduate school to prioritizing mental health in academia.

BU sophomore Miguel Feliciano (CAS ’26, Political Science and Latin American Studies) shared with me that Dr. Padilla keeps the project very organized and straightforward. They also articulated that despite the fact that research can often be a very isolating and individual experience, Dr. Padilla has fostered a really fun, collaborative, and supportive working environment. BU senior Nathaly Lemus (CAS ’24, Political Science and Psychology) echoed similar points, highlighting how accessible Dr. Padilla has made the project for students of all backgrounds and levels of experience. BU sophomore Xinyao “Jessica” Guan (CAS ’24, Political Science and Education) agreed, expressing how much she’s loved being a part of the Immigration Raids team and having the opportunity to learn about Dr. Padilla’s and other students’ experiences.  

Dr. Padilla emphasized the impact of CISS funding on her work. The effect has been “two-pronged,” she explained to me. First, the position of a CISS post-doc provides fellows a significant amount of time dedicated solely to conducting research. Dr. Padilla shared that “CISS protects my time and allows me to devote work hours to the projects I’m passionate about. My research wouldn’t be moving as fast without support from the Center.” Second, CISS provides postdocs with research funds, and this has enabled her to financially compensate many of the RAs on her team. This funding “helps include more people in this research and creates an opportunity on campus.” Moreover, CISS also launched a new collaborative program with BU Spark! that connects faculty, postdoctoral, and graduate student social scientists with data science students to generate cutting-edge new research. With the support of Spark! data scientists, Dr. Padilla plans for her data to be hosted on an external website that would allow non-team members to utilize her findings to inform policy and further action. 

In their research,  Dr. Padilla and her team have detected disproportionately high rates of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids in cities across the U.S. that have been deemed “sanctuary cities,” or municipalities that limit or deny cooperation with the national government in enforcing immigration law. Sanctuary cities have enacted policies  to create a protective barrier for immigrant communities, are being targeted by raids. Prior to the efforts of Dr. Padilla and her team, there has been quite limited research on the distribution of raids across the country, and Dr. Padilla hopes to present the first longitudinal data on immigration raids. The scope of the research, bound between 2014 and 2018, allows the study to  reveal the reality of raids both prior to the Trump administration and during the changes that were made.

From inspiring undergraduate research assistants to pursue a career in academia to fostering connection and collaboration among young social scientists, RAs Miguel, Nathaly, Sadiya, and Jessica highlight the positive impact of CISS research funding. CISS looks forward to supporting the Immigration Raids Project’s continued success in the future.

  1. Alexandra Angelini (CAS ‘26; Sociology and Philosophy) Boston University)
  2. Isabella “Bella” Alvarado (CAS ‘27; Sociology and Human Rights Studies) 
  3. Adiyaan Ahamad (CAS ‘27; Economics)
  4. Sadiya Buccino (CAS ‘26; Psychology)
  5. Miguel Feliciano (CAS ‘26; Political Science and Latin American Studies)
  6. Feifan “Alice” Gao (CAS; Political Science and History)
  7. Jesus Guerrero (COM ‘25; Film/TV and Business Administration)
  8. Yana Gokhman (Pardee ‘26; International Relations)
  9. Xinyao “Jessica” Guan (CAS and Wheelock ‘26; Political Science and Education)
  10. Stanley Huang (CAS ‘26; Philosophy and Economics)
  11. Sawakatsu Inoue (University of Michigan ‘26; Statistics and Mathematical Finance)
  12. Tanvi Jain (CAS ‘27; Neuroscience and Political Science)
  13. Shreeya Khullar (CAS ‘26; Psychology and Sociology)
  14. Amari Lampert (Cornell University; Human Biology, Health and Society, and Policy Analysis)
  15. Nathaly Lemus (CAS ‘24; Political Science and Psychology)
  16. Kevin Mani (COM ‘24; Journalism and Film/TV)
  17. Bella Moreno (Pardee ‘27; International Relations and Business Administration)
  18. Yeabsera Mekebeb (CAS ‘26; Political Science and Data Science)
  19. Micah Rysman (CAS ‘26; Economics, Data Science, and Business Administration)
  20. Langwei “Leo” Shi (CAS ‘27; Sociology)
  21. Kaitlin Shih (CAS ‘24; Economics)
  22. Zoe Solberg (CAS ‘26; Sociology)
  23. Leqi “Sophie” Wang (CAS ‘25; Economics and Mathematics)
  24. Christen Williams (Sargent ‘26; Behavioral Aspects of Health and Biology)
  25. Yujia “Stella” Zhai (CAS ‘25; Computer Science and Economics)

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