Drs. Miriam Feldblum and Felecia Russell—Advocating for Immigrant Equity in Higher Education

Dr. Felecia Russell is the Director of the Higher Ed Immigration Portal at the Presidents’ Alliance for Higher Education and Immigration. She identifies as a Black DACA recipient, scholar, and practitioner. Her research agenda explores the experiences of non-Latinx undocumented students, more specifically Black undocumented students, and the intersections of race and immigration status. Her forthcoming book, Amplifying Black Undocumented Student Voices in Higher Education which centers her own educational journey and a qualitative study exploring the experiences of 15 Black undocumented students, is set to be released by Routledge on April 15, 2024. Most recently, she published two groundbreaking articles, “What Does it Mean to be UndocuBlack? Exploring the Double Invisibility of Black Undocumented Immigrant Students in U.S. Colleges and Universities” and “The (Un) Embraced: The Experiences of Black Undocumented Students on College Campuses.” Felecia earned her undergraduate degree from Cal Lutheran, her master’s in Public Policy from Pepperdine University, and her doctorate from Temple University.

Dr. Miriam Feldblum is co-founder and executive director of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration. A national expert on the intersection of immigration and higher education, Miriam has written extensively and delivered presentations on undocumented, international, and refugee students, immigration policy and higher education, and highly skilled labor in the United States. She is a non-resident fellow at the Migration Policy Institute and author of Reconstructing Citizenship: The Politics of Nationality Reform and Immigration in Contemporary France. Prior to co-founding the Alliance, Miriam served as vice president for student affairs, dean of students, and professor of politics at Pomona College, as special assistant to the president, faculty research associate, and senior director at Caltech, and as an assistant professor at the University of San Francisco. She received her B.A. from Barnard College and her M.A., M.Phil, and Pd.D from Yale University.