Monica Varsanyi

Immigration federalism in the United States; geographies of citizenship, membership, nativism, and unauthorized migration; American Political Development

Monica Varsanyi is a scholar of migration, membership, and the state, with a specific focus on immigration federalism — the expanding role of states and cities in immigration policy-making and enforcement — and the politics of unauthorized migration in the United States. Her books include Taking Local Control: Immigration Policy Activism in U.S. Cities and States (Stanford University Press, 2010, edited volume) and Policing Immigrants: Local Law Enforcement on the Front Lines (with Doris Marie Provine, Scott Decker, and Paul Lewis; University of Chicago Press, 2016). Her current research explores the nativist roots of voter disenfranchisement in the United States, as well as immigration federalism during the Great Depression. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and National Endowment for the Humanities.

Currently, Varsanyi serves as vice provost for faculty affairs and academic programs at the University of California Office of the President. As systemwide vice provost, Varsanyi works closely with the Academic Senate and university leaders to oversee UC faculty initiatives and to help ensure appropriate policies and guidelines are in place to support the UC system’s 75,000 academic appointees. She also oversees a number of systemwide academic programs, including the California Digital Library, UC Press, the UC Education Abroad Program, the President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, UC Center Sacramento, and the UC Washington Center.