Tomás Rivera Policy Institute
The Tomás Rivera Policy Institute works to address the challenges and opportunities of demographic diversity in the 21st century global city. The Institute is a special initiative of the Price Center for Social Innovation and produces original research, student activities, and policy solutions. Policy focus areas include: Latinos and the criminal justice system, civic engagement and capacity building among immigrant-serving organizations, and demographic change in major metropolitan regions of the United States.
Latinos and the Criminal Justice System
The following reports explore how Latinos are impacted by the justice system. Safety and Justice: Latinos and Immigrants examines the overuse of local jails and its effects on Latinos and noncitizens. The website presents evidence-based policy solutions for reducing jail populations. TRPI also partnered with Californians for Safety and Justice (CSJ) to compile existing digital publications on Latinos, crime and the justice system which CSJ used in a 2014 comprehensive report.
Building Trust between Media and Immigrant Communities
TRPI has done extensive research on media coverage and immigrant communities. In 2018, TRPI undertook a multi-faceted effort to promote engagement between immigrant communities and news organizations to produce improved news coverage and help those communities express their interests. With support from the California Community Foundation, the Institute convened several events that brought together journalists, public officials and community representatives, including a roundtable on the 2020 census.
Resources for Immigrant Service Providers
With the support of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, TRPI has created a series of online microsites of curated research and up-to-date information on topics relevant to immigrant service providers. The microsite format provides the content in a dynamic, searchable, and readily updated digital publication, designed for wide public dissemination. Topics covered include:
- Access & Use of Technology
- Access & Use of Financial Services
- Notario Fraud
- Driver’s Licenses for the Unauthorized
U.S.-Mexico Relations
The following digital publications were curated by the U.S.-Mexico Network of the University of Southern California. The network’s Imagining 2024 project is designed to provide readers a quick overview of key issues in US-Mexico relations – the background of the issue, its current state, where we ought to be by 2024, and how to get there. Topics include:
- Clean Energy and Intelligent Interconnections
- Economy and Trade
- Health Care System Complementarity
- Mexico and the Mexican Community in the United States
- Public Diplomacy: A “European” Solution to Mexico’s Image Problem
- Security Cooperation between the United States and Mexico
Children of DAPA
Providing key evidence in the federal court battle over President Obama’s executive action on immigration, this joint USC/UCLA report assess research from many fields about the impact of growing up with an unauthorized immigrant parent and the life-altering benefits of legalization. The report was published April 6, 2015 in conjunction with the filing of an amicus brief by educational organizations and children’s rights advocates who utilized the report to argue that the public interest and fairness are best served by safeguarding the American children of unauthorized immigrants.
Research Report | Press Release | Amicus Brief
TRPI Research Archives
TRPI is the successor to the think tank of the same name that for 25 years promoted informed policy making on issues affecting Latino communities.