Sociology Student to Present at Fall Honors Research Colloquium

Join the Department of Sociology at the USD Fall Honors Research Colloquium on December 6th from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to support sociology and political science major, Jennifer Torres Leon as she presents her senior research project, “Surveillance Technology and the Tracking of Immigrants,” guided by her thesis advisor, Associate Professor of Sociology Cid Martinez, PhD.

“My inspiration for this project stems from my personal experience of being an immigrant. I was born and raised in Guayaquil, Ecuador and moved to the United States in 2014,” shared Torres Leon. “While assimilating was challenging, an unforeseen barrier turned out to be the social norms which marginalized my family because of our identity.”

Drawing from interviews, observations and GIS data, Torres Leon examines how emerging surveillance tools—such as smart streetlights and vehicle license plate readers—impact privacy rights and disproportionately target Black, Brown and immigrant communities in San Diego.

"Several sociology courses introduced me to the term ‘crimmigration,’ which refers to the criminalization of immigrants,” she explains. “Given the current political climate of the United States and the spotlight on the Latino community, a project regarding immigrant surveillance with a constitutional and human rights emphasis is urgent.”

Be sure to stop by on December 6th to speak with Torres Leon and Dr. Martinez to gain deeper insight into their passion and the significance of this important work.

To learn more about her project, as well as the work of other presenters, please refer to the Honors Colloquium Program of Abstracts.