Mirian Martinez-Aranda

Mirian Martinez-Aranda serves as a Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Davis, and holds a Visiting Scholar position at the Global Migration Center. Her research centers on the social, material, and health consequences of immigration enforcement systems on vulnerable populations.

Education

• Ph.D. in Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Research Focus

Dr. Martinez-Aranda investigates how immigration detention and ICE surveillance mechanisms—including electronic monitoring—function as tools of legal violence that extend punishment beyond formal detention. Her work demonstrates how these policies fracture social capital, disrupt family reunification, and create new axes of stratification that systematically deprive immigrants of autonomy and resources. This research reveals the production of unequal health outcomes and community marginalization through state-enforced surveillance regimes.

Scientific Recognition

• National Science Foundation Fellow
• Marvin Hoffenberg Fellow with the Center for American Politics and Public Policy
• Ronald E. McNair Scholar

Scholarly Contributions

Her findings have been published in top-tier journals including the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies and Law and Society Review. She is currently developing a book examining post-detention experiences of immigrants navigating family reintegration, community incorporation, and ongoing engagement with the immigration legal system under surveillance conditions.