Immigration Justice & Human Rights
Hi! I’m Dr. Julia Paley.
I help immigration advocacy and human rights organizations by doing the vital research and writing they need to advance their mission, convey their message, and move the world toward greater justice.
What People Are Saying About Working With Julia:
Julia’s public speaking, organizing skills, Spanish language fluency, interpersonal relations, commitment to social justice, and passion for immigrant rights, have impressed people throughout the network and beyond.
Julia is an extremely astute editor—helping colleagues produce excellent writing and analysis, from conceptualization through to the finished article.
Julia is very skilled at leading large meetings, facilitating small group discussions, strategizing for public actions, and bringing allies together with directly-impacted communities to fight for their rights.
Services
I will travel internationally and around the United States to produce reports,
social media postings, and content for annual reports, newsletters, and articles
Education
Training, Workshops, Webinars, Presentations, Panels
Research
Interviews, Fieldwork, Investigation
Writing and Editing
Reports, Analysis, Blogs, Articles, Books
Organizing and Advocacy
Strategy, Analysis, Action, Mobilization, Events
Fundraising
Development and Grant Writing
Law Firm Services
Declarations and Affidavits
Julia Paley is an excellent editor with a deep understanding of international relations, including her particular area of expertise, Latin America.
-John Feffer
Meet Julia
Researcher, writer, educator, and organizer promoting immigration justice
and human rights in the United States and around the world
Dr. Julia Paley is an immigration justice and human rights specialist with expertise in foreign policy, gender and root causes of migration. With more than two decades of professional experience in field research, writing, analysis, and Spanish language — she has worked intensely over the last six years to organize for immigrant rights, including detention release, deportation defense, asylum, and the wellbeing of refugees.
Julia’s training is in cultural anthropology, with a focus on Latin America. She earned her doctorate and master’s degrees from Harvard University, and served on the faculties of the University of Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania, where she won a teaching award. A Fulbright Scholar, she also held a National Science Foundation grant for research in Ecuador. Her edited volume Democracy: Anthropological Approaches featured top scholars, and her book Marketing Democracy: Power and Social Movements in Post-Dictatorship Chile won an American Ethnological Society book prize.
Education
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Master of Arts (MA)
Anthropology
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Urban Studies
Dr. Julia Paley Consulting
Specialist in Immigration Justice and Human Rights
Testimonials
“Julia is a top-notch organizer. She co-founded the DMV Sanctuary Congregation Network and spent the year gearing up nearly 100 congregations across 17 faiths traditions to defend immigrants against deportation. Her public speaking, organizing skills, Spanish language fluency, interpersonal relations, commitment to social justice, and passion for immigrant rights, have impressed people throughout the network and beyond. She built strong relationships with people at risk for deportation and worked intensely and effectively to organize for the Temporary Protected Status and Dream Act legislative fights.”
“Julia is a dedicated and highly articulate advocate for social justice. She has a sharp eye for editing and navigates the media landscape very well when strategizing about publications. I also know Julia, from personal experience, to turn around excellent feedback on articles and chapter ideas under very intense time constraints. Julia’s understanding of and connections with groups in Latin America make her an asset to any organisation working for progressive change on human and environmental rights. Furthermore, on a personal level, Julia is a very generous spirited person and a pleasure to work with. I look forward to collaborating with her again in the future.”
“For the past year, I have been a clergy volunteer for the DMV Sanctuary Congregation Network. Julia has been one of the organizers I have worked with. What a delight Julia is to work with! She built strong relationships with clergy – preparing them to speak to the press, present at rallies, and participate in vigils. Through her own faith tradition, she has a strong moral commitment to justice, and works beautifully with people across religious backgrounds. She is very skilled at leading large meetings, facilitating small group discussions, strategizing for public actions, and bringing allies together with directly-impacted communities to fight for their rights. Most of all, she brings all her many talents and personality to her work – giving her all to social justice struggles. She’d be a great addition to any organization working for human and civil rights. Personally and professionally I learned so much from Julia’s vast experiences as an organizer of justice movements along with her compassionate heart for all the people directly impacted by policies.”
Connect With Me
Follow Dr. Julia paley on social media
Publications
Books
Articles
Featured Content
Five Ways Cultural Anthropologists Can Help Law Firms Manage Pro Bono Asylum Cases
Learn how cultural anthropologists bring invaluable skills to help law firms build stronger, more compassionate pro bono asylum cases.
Contributions From Popular Education in Health to Structural Competency Training: An Experience From Chile
This article highlights two major contributions of the Chilean organization Popular Education in Health (EPES) to structural competency: a methodology that narrows the gap between a theoretical analysis of social determinants of health and implementing action plans; and long-term links with social movements that strengthen action in poor neighborhoods to advance social justice.
A Conflict in Chile Over Minerals Needed for
Clean Energy
The world needs rare earth elements. But this mine threatens the ecosystem and well-being of the people of this Chilean community. Learn how local residents are mobilizing.
Articles
Foreign Policy
The End of Asylum
Trump’s asylum ban and kangaroo tent courts threaten to destroy a pillar of international humanitarian law. What can we do?
Life After Deportation
Civil society groups are struggling to fill gaps in services for “returnees” in El Salvador, who face social stigma, employment discrimination, and often trauma.
Who is Dayani Cristal?
A Tale of Death in the Desert
A new film offers a look at the human beings lost in the debate over “border security.”
Where the TPP Could Lose
Activists in Chile have made their government draw red lines on the corporate-friendly investment deal. North Americans could take a lesson.
What ‘Free Trade’ Has Done to Central America
Warnings about the human and environmental costs went unheeded. Now the most vulnerable Central Americans are paying the price
The Fight to Ban Gold Mining and Save El Salvador’s Water Supply
Gold-digging multinationals are fueling political violence and environmental devastation in El Salvador, but communities are fighting back.
Articles
Anthropology
Toward an Anthropology of Democracy
Annual Review of Anthropology, 2002, Vol. 31, pp. 469-496
Accountable democracy:
Citizens’ impact on public decision making in
postdictatorship Chile
American Ethnologist, Vol. 31, No. 4, pp. 497 – 513
Making Democracy Count: Opinion Polls and Market Surveys in the Chilean Political
Transition
Cultural Anthropology, May, 2001, Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 135-164
The Paradox of Participation: Civil Society and Democracy in Chile
Political and Legal Anthropology Review, May 2001, Vol. 24, No. 1,
pp. 1-12
Chilean Ephemera and the
Politics of Knowledge
The Princeton University Library Chronicle, SPRING 1996, Vol. 57, No. 3, pp. 442-464