DePaul Migration Collaborative: Advocating for Justice, Educating for the Future

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The DePaul Migration Collaborative engages scholars, practitioners, students and alumni to find solutions to society’s most pressing problems in the areas of migration, mobility and human rights. The Collaborative leverages the power of interdisciplinary scholarly collaboration to pursue dynamic, community-engaged projects, advocacy and research, while establishing innovative learning opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students who will become the field’s next generation of leaders and problem-solvers.

These efforts will allow the Collaborative to advocate for and contribute to better public policy, stronger communities and a more just society. 

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Projects

solutions lab
Solutions Lab
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students
Practitioner in Residence Program
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Emily
Alumni Field Notes​
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commcap
Community Capacity Project
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Our History​

Originally named St. Vincent's College, DePaul University was founded in 1898 to serve children of catholic immigrants. In 1996, DePaul University’s College of Law founded the nationally recognized Asylum and Immigration Legal Clinic (AILC) tha​​t partners with community organizations and practitioners to provide high-quality legal representation and legal education to immigrants and refugees. In 2015, DePaul launched the first graduate program in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (RFMS) ​in the United States, now internationally recognized. In 2022, the DePaul Migration Collaborative was founded, building on DePaul’s long legacy as an immigrant-serving institution and sharing in its core Vincentian mission to welcome the stranger. ​

In its first year, the DMC highlighted the impact and contributions of the AILC and RFMS Alumni to the field through the DePaul Migration Advocates series, partnered with community organizations to research assets and needs of migrant serving community organizations (Community Capacity Report) and held its inaugural symposium, Strategies for a Migrant Planet, bringing together scholars, advocates, students and practitioners from the Midwest and beyond to share research, insights and recommendations on migration and human rights policy and practices, addressing a range of topics at the intersection of migration, law enforcement, climate change and health.  By 2023, the DMC started two new research programs: the Solutions Lab and Practitioner in Residence Program. , providing opportunities for DePaul faculty, students and nonprofits to partner on developing scalable models to address pressing migrant issues and for visiting experts to engage research to inform policy. Both programs expand upon the initial purpose of the DMC: redefining refugee protections. These programs emphasize advocacy, research, and the improvement/expansion of protections for forced migrants by bringing real solutions to the community while engaging experts and practitioners in the field.  

The DMC's second symposium in 2024, Cities and Migration: Plans, Policies, and Action​, met the moment by highlighting the role of local communities in receiving migrants following the recent arrival of over 69,000 migrants to Illinois. The convening brought together stakeholders from across the country addressing similar challenges at the intersection of housing, employment, education, health and legal services. 
Presently, the Collaborative continues to formally unite DePaul’s existing areas of excellence, bringing together scholars, students, practitioners and community members from diverse areas of study, work, and experience to address comprehensive change.