For Óscar F. Gil-García, assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences, immigration is more than a political issue — it’s a human story. His research explores how border policies, forced migration and family separation influence health, identity and the lived experiences of Indigenous migrants in the U.S. and Mexico.

Gil-García examines the overarching problem of state policies at the border and their corresponding effects on individuals and the bonds of families. His current research documents how traumatic memories associated with the Guatemalan war (1960-1996) and family separations form part of the everyday violence experienced by Indigenous Maya who live in Mexico and the U.S.

At a very young and impressionable age, he witnessed a deportation raid that changed him forever and lit a fire within him to devote his life to being a help, resource and counsel to those in need.

“My research is linked to my upbringing,” says Gil-García, who grew up in New York City’s Sunset Park area, where his parents moved to from Mexico.

Building on his knowledge and experience in graduate school at the University of California, Santa Barbara, he learned more about how Mexico established strict border barriers that prevented many Guatemalans from seeking asylum, forcing them to continue to the U.S.

To this day, Gil-García says these migrants often still face intense inequalities and uncertain legal status in the U.S. This has caused the once intended temporary La Gloria refugee camp in the southernmost mountainous region of Chiapas, Mexico, along the border with Guatemala, to evolve into its own permanent community.

Gil-García devoted his time to field work on the topic, interviewing migrant families in Los Angeles.

“It was hard work earning the trust of many families stuck in this situation, as they were very scared and were unsure of who they were safe to talk to,” says Gil-García. But he was diligent about reaching out and approaching the situation with his kind, comforting nature.

His research has become an integral part of his life path. In keeping up relationships with the family members there in La Gloria, Gil-García has personally helped 26 people to legalize their status.

“It was really special to bring to fruition after all these years of research,” says Gil-García. “It helped me realize how my scholarship is inseparable from advocacy.”

He became so close to some of the families, he considers them part of his own extended family. Gil-García and his wife Taña went through the process of becoming certified to be foster parents in the event one of the family’s U.S.-born sons needed a safe place following an involuntary separation during the now defunct zero tolerance immigration enforcement policy.

“By working with this family and immigration advocates we helped include up to 1,000 impacted U.S. citizen minors as class members of the Ms L. v. ICE lawsuit authorizing their reunification,” says Gil-García.

Gil-García’s passion for his research and the people he built these strong relationships with led him to his 2025 Mellon Emerging Faculty Leaders (MEFL) award. Funded by the Mellon Foundation, the MEFL Awards “support junior faculty whose research focuses on contemporary history, politics, culture and society and who are committed to the creation of thriving campus communities for students and faculty.”

As a MEFL Fellow, Gil-García received a stipend to support research and mentorship, specifically recognizing those building inclusive campus communities. Gil-García’s award allows him to dive further into his book, “Legacies of Forced Migration and Photographic Testimony of Indigenous Maya in the Americas.”

Most recently, the National Humanities Center awarded him a Summer Select Fellowship to make progress on the book.

In addition to his book, he has co-authored articles with students that explore the policy relevance of broadening healthcare to the undocumented and health impacts of family separations.

Gil-García first came to UB as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar in 2021, eventually joining the Department of Anthropology as a faculty member. He teaches a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses including Introduction to Cultural Anthropology; Global Migrations: Mapping Human Mobilities; and Anthropology of Race, Sex and Gender.