Lecturer Francisco Alatorre Receives PhD

On November 18th, Francisco Alatorre successfully defended his PhD dissertation “From Criminalization to Symbolic Resiliency: Undocumented Immigrants Re-Imagining Success in the United States”, earning him the Doctor of Philosophy in Justice and Social Inquiry degree from Arizona State University.

“I wanted to understand undocumented immigrant women perceptions of criminality due to their undocumented status,” said Alatorre.

 A lawyer from Mexico and an experienced teacher, Alatorre spent two years preparing, interviewing and interacting with undocumented women. Using his experience in nonprofit work, he realized his passion for advocacy and human justice in his early 30’s and began working for nonprofit organizations helping the poor, homeless and immigrant populations.

“This was an opportunity to be a voice for others,” said Alatorre.

In front of a private panel, Alatorre discussed many positive aspects of female immigrant status, including familial advantages and a lower likelihood of deportation.  He also detailed negative advantages of their gender such as heading the family if the father is deported and lack of certain services.

“How do you keep them believing they will be successful?” said Alatorre.

His presentation also featured future projects, such as a paper on women and the fear of broken families and complications due to no health insurance.

Alatorre’s research presented a lighter side as well, depicting a strong character of undocumented women. According to his research, many volunteer despite their own rough situations.

In his classrooms, Alatorre’s encourages students to participate in group discussions about social problems. His goal is to create a pressure-free environment for students to express their opinions.

Outside of the classroom, he promotes higher education to his own children. Alatorre grew up in a working class family and holds this to a high regard.

He was recently nominated for the Faculty Women’s Association Distinguished Graduate Student Award. The FWA Distinguished Graduate Student Achievement Award seeks to recognize Doctoral and Master’s degree candidates who have distinguished themselves through exceptional scholarship, research, creative activities and noteworthy performance in leadership and service. 

 “If you have a dream you better fight for it because it can come true,” said Alatorre.