Welcome to this week’s episode of The Mindbridge Podcast: Where Science Meets Human Rights! This podcast invites human rights defenders to teach and learn from brain and behavioral scientists about how we can all use science to do human rights work that is more efficient and impactful.
Today, we are joined by Sui Chung and Dr. Alan Meca to discuss immigrant rights and justice.
DR. ALAN MECA is an Associate Professor and the Assistant Chair for Faculty Affairs in the Department of Psychology at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Dr. Meca’s work examines the psychological processes that shape how individuals navigate cultural contexts and life transitions, with a particular emphasis on promoting well-being among diverse populations.
This work has led to substantive research on identity development, acculturation, and cultural stress, particularly among immigrant and minoritized populations. Dr. Meca has published over 120 peer-reviewed articles and has secured more than $3.7 million in external grant funding to support his work. In addition to his scholarship, he is actively engaged in mentoring graduate and undergraduate students and contributes to professional service within the field of psychology.
SUI CHUNG is Executive Director of Americans for Immigrant Justice, Florida’s largest nonprofit immigrant defense law firm. She is an award-winning leader of the immigration bar. In 2023, the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild honored Sui with the Lisa Brodyaga Award for her contributions in advancing the rights of immigrants.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has awarded her three times with national awards. During multiple terms, AILA National appointed her to chair its national ICE and EOIR liaison committees, where she represented the interests of over 16,000 immigration attorneys nationwide.
Additional highlights of her career have included co-representing the lead Florida Supreme Court case addressing immigrants’ right to effective representation in criminal proceedings; representing arguably the most famous unaccompanied minor from the award-winning nonfiction novel, Enrique’s Journey; leading groundbreaking court-appointed representation of mentally incompetent immigrants; and representing AI Justice and other organizations as amicus curiae counsel in briefing before the United States Supreme Court.
Sui is a past president of the AILA South Florida Chapter and was previously elected to serve a three-year term as a director of AILA National’s Board of Governors. She was formerly Chair of the board of directors of the American Immigration Council, vice president of Catholic Legal Services board of directors, and a member of the boards of Immigrants’ List PAC and Immigrants’ List Civic Action.
Mindbridge is the nation’s leading non-profit using brain and behavioral science to empower human rights defenders.
We conduct programming, support partnerships, and direct research at the intersection of psychological science and human rights. Through these efforts, Mindbridge is growing a science-driven community that gives human rights defenders access to the hearts and minds of those they serve.
To learn more about how we use brain and behavioral science to empower human rights defenders, find us at mindbridgecenter.org, read our blog on Psychology Today, and follow us on social media.
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