Event: Cities and Migration: Plan, Policies, and Action (April 11, 2024)
Credit - Johnathan Castillo
Event: Faculty Network Weaving (April 14, 2023)
Credit - Tanisi Chand
Event: Inaugural Immigration Summit (April 11, 2022)
Credit: Jonathan Castillo
Event: Inaugural Immigration Summit (April 11, 2022)
Credit: Jonathan Castillo
Event: Faculty Network Weaving (April 14, 2023)
Credit - Tanisi Chand
Event: Cities and Migration: Plan, Policies, and Action (April 11, 2024)
Credit - Kit Wiberg
The DePaul Migration Collaborative engages scholars, practitioners, students and alumni to find solutions to society’s most pressing problems in the areas of migration, mobility and human rights. The Collaborative leverages the power of interdisciplinary scholarly collaboration to pursue dynamic, community-engaged projects, advocacy and research, while establishing innovative learning opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students who will become the field’s next generation of leaders and problem-solvers.
These efforts will allow the Collaborative to advocate for and contribute to better public policy, stronger communities and a more just society.
More About Us!
Projects
Our History
In 1996, DePaul University’s College of Law founded the nationally-recognized Asylum and Immigration Legal Clinic (AILC) that partners with community organizations and practitioners to provide high-quality legal representation and legal education to immigrants and refugees. In 2015, DePaul launched the first graduate program in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (RFMS) in the United States, now internationally recognized. In 2022, the DePaul Migration Collaborative was founded; building on DePaul’s long legacy as an immigrant-serving institution and sharing in its core Vincentian mission to welcome the stranger.
During its first year, the DMC began its initial project, the DePaul Migration Advocates Video Series highlighting the stories of the Alumni. The Collaborative also held its first inaugural symposium, Strategies for a Migrant Planet. The day-long conference brought together scholars, advocates, students and practitioners from the Midwest and beyond to share research and insights on significant developments in migration and human rights. The day included topics such as crimmigration, gaps in refugee resettlement, climate change, health services, etc.
By 2023, the DMC started two new research programs: the Solutions Lab and Practitioner in Residence Program. Both programs expand upon the initial purpose of the DMC: redefining refugee protections. These programs emphasize advocacy, research, and the improvement/expansion of protections for forced migrants by bringing real solutions to the community while engaging experts and practitioners in the field.
In 2024, the DMC held it’s second bi-annual symposium Cities and Migration: Plans, Policies, and Action focused on the meaning of a sanctuary city and responding to the recent influx of over 69,000 new arrivals in Illinois. This convening built on the efforts of the first symposium through exchanging ideas, addressing challenges and providing solutions. Topics included shelter, work, youth and education, labor, data collection, health, and law.
Presently, the Collaborative continues to formally unite DePaul’s existing areas of excellence, bringing together scholars, students, practitioners and community members from diverse areas of study, work, and experience to address comprehensive change.