Podcasts

Interview with Alejandro Olayo Mendez

 

1. Can you tell me about the field of undocumented migration that you are researching?

Interview with Alejandro Olayo Mendez who is researching undocumented Mexican migrants to the US. In this part of the interview he explains what characterises his research field.

2.  What types of social pain are your encountering?

Alejandro Olayo Mendez talks about the different types of social pain that he has encountered in his research with undocumented Mexican migrants to the US.

3. What about hospitality and care for the migrants ?

Alejandro Olayo Mendez talks about the hospitality and care shown to undocumented Mexican migrants to the US.

4. What methods are you using to follow subjects who are themselves on the move?

Alejandro Olayo Mendez describes the 'mobile' methods he has been using in his ethnographic research on undocumented Mexican migrants.

5. Can you tell me some stories about your migrants and social pain

Alejandro Olayo Mendez tells stories about the social pain that undocumented Mexican migrants can face

In this interview Fr Alejandro Olayo Mendez describes his research with undocumented migrants crossing the border into the US. He talks about the journeys, care and hospitality shown to the migrants.

Alejandro_0293.jpg

Alejandro Olayo-Méndez is currently reading for a DPhil in International Development at the University of Oxford.  He is a Mexican national, who has lived and worked in the US for more than 10 years. Professionally, he counselled migrant families in Chicago; conducted research for the Jesuit Service to Migrants and the US Jesuit Conference in the Mexican Migration Corridor; and worked for Jesuit Refugee Services in Colombia and India. 

Recently, Alejandro completed the MSc in Migration Studies at Oxford.  He also holds a Master of Social Work from Loyola University Chicago and a Master of Divinity (Theology) from Boston College. In addition to his academic degrees and professional experiences, Alejandro is a Jesuit Catholic priest.

Alejandro's research focuses on the interactions between transit migrants and humanitarian aid organizations along the Mexican migration corridor and the ways these interactions shape the migratory processes in the region. Other research interests include : [1] Transit migration, humanitarian aid, and human rights. [2] The impact that  deportations of irregular migrants have on the economic and social development in places of origin and destination. [3] The relationship between experiences of migration and economic policies of destination countries.

 

esuit.org/blog/index.php/2011/07/2011-ordinations/#more-3458