Jason De León

Jason De León is a Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), holding a split faculty position between the Department of Chicana/o and Central American Studies and the Department of Anthropology. He directs the Undocumented Migration Project (UMP), a multidisciplinary initiative combining ethnography, archaeology, and forensic analysis to study clandestine border crossings in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Additionally, he serves as Director of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, where his research lab operates, and holds the Lloyd E. Cotsen Endowed Chair in Archaeology.

• Professor, UCLA
• Director, Undocumented Migration Project
• Director, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology
• Lloyd E. Cotsen Endowed Chair in Archaeology

Education:

• PhD, Anthropology, Penn State University (2008)
• MA, Anthropology, Penn State University (2004)
• BA, Anthropology, UCLA (2001)

De León’s research focuses on the violent social processes of undocumented migration, border enforcement policies, and the material culture of migration. His work examines the human cost of U.S. immigration policies like "Prevention Through Deterrence" and explores the roles of smugglers in migration networks. He integrates forensic approaches with ethnography to analyze migrant deaths and survival strategies, particularly in the Sonoran Desert and Mexico-Guatemala border regions.

His publications reveal interdisciplinary engagement with thermohydric stress, counter-infrastructures, photoethnography, and migrant material culture. These works often blend archaeological methodologies with cultural and historical analysis, emphasizing the corporeal, ethical, and environmental dimensions of migration.

Scientific Awards

• 2024 National Book Award for Nonfiction (for "Soldiers and Kings")

De León’s lab at the Cotsen Institute collaborates with the Undocumented Migration Project to produce research that bridges academic inquiry and public advocacy. His future work includes a book on photoethnography and continued exploration of human smuggling networks.