Deisy Del Real

Deisy Del Real is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Southern California, studying how immigration policies impact immigrant lives across the Americas. As American Sociological Association delegate to the International Sociological Association (2022-2026), she connects global migration scholarship.

Her research examines legal structures shaping immigrant livelihoods, regional policy responses to migration, and strategies for advancing immigrant rights. Current projects analyze Venezuelan, Mexican, and Bolivian immigrant experiences, investigating how legal residency statuses determine economic security, family wellbeing, and community integration.

Publications critically examine bureaucratic violence in immigration systems, humanitarian regularization programs, and the psychological impacts of illegality stigma. Recent work documents how authoritarian regimes weaponize migration governance and how migrants maintain transnational ties amid political crises.

Her book manuscript analyzes South American governments' use of regional organizations to establish immigrant protections countering exclusionary global trends.