Jesus Cisneros

Jesus Cisneros migrated to the US from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico at the age of 6. As an assistant professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, he brings his knowledge of higher education research and practice to highlight the intersection of education and immigration. His research moves gender, sexuality, and immigration status, and their conceptual margins, to the center of analysis in an effort to explore and understand the way politics and identity interact with various axes of inequality.

Current Work:

Dr. Cisneros' research involves the measurement of educational interventions seeking to improve attitudes toward undocumented immigrants. Previously, he has investigated the outcomes of an accessible and replicable intervention (i.e., DREAMzone) that acknowledges the important role of institutional agents for responding to the presence and needs of undocumented students. His most current research project highlights the work of undocumented student resource centers (USRCs) as viable structures for supporting undocumented students in higher education. His research seeks to expose academic and administrative leadership to the possibility of USRCs and contribute to the generation of practice-related opportunities for enhancing undocumented student support services.

Another strand of his research examines how the shifting sociopolitical climate impacts the experiences of individuals at the overlapping margins of gender, sexuality, and immigration status. This research explores the ways that power — through representation, authorizing agents, and discourse — legitimizes certain ways of being while invalidating and consequently marginalizing those that do not conform to prevailing cultural, political, or social norms. His research complicates the assumptions that unwittingly reify normative notions of gender, sexuality, and immigration status and translate into oppressive policies and practices.

Research Area Keyword(s):

Undocumented, undocuqueer, higher education, DREAMzone