Contributed by Professor Anne Gebelein.
5 LLAS majors presented their 4994W capstone projects to the faculty on April 21st. Students focused on contemporary challenges to Latino and Latin American people’s well being, creating original research that included surveys, examination of government and international data, interviews, and critical comparative analysis. Faculty were impressed with the originality, thoroughness, methodological framing, and significance of the work for real-world applications. All 5 will graduate in May: Elena Bielesz, Ryan Rosario, Diego Reyes, Vivian Chavez, and Wendy Perez. They will be missed!
See below for the abstracts of their work.
Elena Bielesz
The Impact of Trump Administration Immigration Policies on Connecticut Schools and Families
Abstract/Description: Anti-immigrant rhetoric, policies, and practices, which have grown increasingly prevalent due to the current national political climate, have adverse effects on the mental health of immigrant families and the teachers that support them in Connecticut. This study seeks to represent the opinions of Connecticut K-12 MLL (Multilingual Learners) Education Teachers and Administrators whose daily lives are impacted by the anti-immigrant and anti-refugee policies and procedures. The study employed a human subjects-based approach supported by a review of related literature. MLL Educators from around the state of Connecticut were interviewed. These interviews found that while immigration-based trauma and stressors are common in students, families and educators throughout the state, representation, access to education, community solidarity and administrative support are vital to the positive development of immigrant student and family mental health. The study concluded that the development of statewide trauma-oriented and culturally informed training for teachers would decrease secondhand trauma and stress and allow educators to support their students in the best way possible.
Keywords: Multilingual Learners, Immigration Based Trauma, Second-hand trauma, United States Political Rhetoric, Immigration Policy, Trump Administration
Vivian Chavez
Barriers to Disclosure: Sexual Violence & Reporting Failures in Arizona’s Immigration Detention System
Abstract: Sexual VIolence is a prevelant and pressing issue within the United State’s immigration detention centers. My Thesis examines the underreporting of sexual violence within immigration detention centers, focusing on facilities in Arizona. Although there are federal policies like the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), and resources ICE Detainee Handbooks in place establishing formal and legal protection for those in detention, this does not translate into safety and accountability. In my research I use a combination of official reports, PREA audits, ICE inspection documents, survivor testimony and advocacy research to better understand the gap between institutional claims of compliance and the lived experiences of detainees. My findings show that although detention centers maintain multiple channels of reporting and seem to demonstrate procedural compliance on paper, there are still a substantial amount of barriers which prevent survivors from safely disclosing abuse. These barriers include fear of retaliation and deportation, language and cultural obstacles, lack of trust in institutional processes and inconsistent or inadequate investigative practices. This demonstrates that the existence of legal protections and institutional policies does not translate into safety or justice for detainees. The gap between policy and lived experience shows that compliance alone is not enough. If there is no meaningful enforcement and survivor centered practice, sexual violence in immigration detention will remain underreported and inadequately adressed.
Keywords: Immigration Detention, Sexual Violence, Underreporting, Institutional Barriers,
Wendy Perez
Provider Decision-Making in Spanish Interpreter Use: An Evaluation of Current Practices
Abstract/Description:
This project aimed to demonstrate the importance of utilizing in-person interpreters, as an implemented best practice for a pediatric emergency room. This project evaluated current practices in an existing pediatric emergency room for interpretation services among attending providers. Using a qualitative study and qualitative initiative approach, a survey of nine open-ended questions was distributed to the pediatric emergency room attendings in this specific pediatric hospital. Results were obtained via REDCap, where providers discussed their preferences for modalities, ratings of current practices, discussion of training, understanding of culture versus language misunderstandings and more. While in-person interpretation remains a preference within the interpretation services being provided, there is an existent gap in how readily available it is to providers and how consistently it is implemented for communication. Further studies should be conducted for feedback on implementing any initiatives as a result of this study.
Keywords: language barrier, providers, attendings, rating, evaluating, in-person, compassion
Ryan Rosario
Selective Security: The Gendered Costs of El Salvador’s State of Exception
Since President Nayib Bukele’s March 2022 State of Exception, El Salvador has been hailed as a modern model of security achievement and a template for handling gang violence across Latin America and the United States. Yet this definition of success relies on a narrow view of public safety that centers male victims of street crime and prioritizes police patrols, mass arrests, and mass incarceration to drive down the general homicide rate. This thesis argues that, despite the reported decline in homicide, the State of Exception has not produced comparable reductions in femicide or intimate partner violence (IPV). This failure reflects a Salvadoran legal system shaped by deep-rooted paternalism that has not invested in diversionary and therapeutic responses for aggressors. Combining descriptive statistics on homicide and femicide from Salvadoran state institutions with an independent femicide series compiled by ORMUSA (Organización de Mujeres Salvadoreñas por la Paz) for the period 2020 to 2024, I compare the trajectories of general homicide and femicide rates before and after the March 2022 State of Exception. I contextualize these trends through an analysis of institutional bottlenecks in policing and courts, as well as a historical examination of mano dura policies and Cold War counterinsurgency. The data show that while reported overall homicide collapses after 2022, femicide declines only modestly, and NGO estimates remain above one femicide per 100,000 women, diverging from official reports. What emerges is that El Salvador’s security gains are structured by gender. These findings point toward a different model of security, one centered on diversionary and therapeutic alternatives to incarceration for aggressors, the establishment and enforcement of criminal protective orders, and a robust network of women’s shelters as core pillars of public safety.
Diego Reyes
Priced Out of Stability: Healthcare Costs and Economic Insecurity in America
This thesis considers how rising health care costs are impacting rates of medical debt and bankruptcy among middle and working class Latinos in CT. In particular, it questions how the Big Beautiful Bill (PL No. 119 – 21) has affected income distribution across middle-, upper-middle, and lower-income households in the U.S.. This research claims that this legislation is facilitating a hollowing out of the middle class; rather than stabilizing economic opportunity and increasing access to health insurance, these policies actively produce and deepen economic inequality, creating a “K-shaped economy” that pushes vulnerable Latinos in CT further into financial precarity.
