Monica Varsanyi, Associate Professor of the Department of Political Science, discussed recent developments in U.S. immigration policy and law on Al Jazeera America. During the live interview with anchor Richelle Carey, Professor Varsanyi commented on President Obama's recent executive actions on immigration, including the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) DACA policy and administrative relief. The discussion provided context for a report about a Guatemalan family in which the parents are under threat of deportation.

The segment aired on December 20.

Professor Varsanyi is also a member of the Doctoral Faculty in Geography at the CUNY Graduate Center. Her research addresses the politics of unauthorized (or 'illegal') immigration in the United States, specifically the growing tensions between local, state, and federal governments over immigration policy and enforcement. She is currently working on two related projects: one that explores growing tensions between local and state grassroots immigration policy activism and the U.S. federal government's plenary power over immigration; and second, an NSF-funded project that explores the expanding involvement of city police in immigration enforcement and the impact this is having on the relationship between local police and (unauthorized) immigrant communities. Her work as been published extensively in academic journals and her edited volume, Taking Local Control: Immigration Policy Activism in U.S. Cities and States was published by Stanford University Press in 2010.