Aoki Center Blog

The Aoki Center joined the California Unity Bar Association in filing an amicus brief supporting the plaintiffs-appellees in Vasquez Perdomo v. Mullin. The June 17 brief argues, “The Trump administration has employed roving patrols relying on race in the name of immigration enforcement and detained people in inhumane conditions without access to counsel. The action violates the law, undermines our democracy, and must be enjoined.”

Aoki Center Director Kevin R. Johnson contributed “The Trump Administration’s Racial Dragnet: Immigration Enforcement in Los Angeles” to SMU Law Review’s 2025 Symposium: Immigration and the Constitution: Evolving Doctrines and Emerging Conficts.

USA Today cited the Aoki Center for Critical Race and Nation Studies in its June 18 story, “Families fear what’s next in Trump birthright citizenship case” by Trevor Hughes. The article describes the pending Supreme Court decision on Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship. 

Titled “The City Is Native Land,” this episode centers on Indigenous presence, belonging, continuity, and care within urban spaces across California.

Hosted by Victorio L. Shaw (Hoopa), the episode invites listeners to reconsider cities not as neutral spaces, but as layered Indigenous homelands shaped by memory, responsibility, survival, and relationship to land.

Book Talk: Ryan Lee Cartwright

May 20 | 4:30pm | Shields 205

Join the Davis Humanities Institute for a conversation with Ryan Lee Cartwright (UCD American Studies) about his book, Peculiar Places, and the intertwining of race, disability, and class in America. Reception to follow.

Register here.

King Hall Professor Jack Chin will speak on a panel at Voices of the Valley: A Community Movie Night at UC Davis, May 13, 5:30-8 p.m., 1002 Cruess Hall. Free admission; RSVP at 1882foundation.short.gy/Voices.

We often think of Chinatowns in cities like San Francisco or New York when we think about Chinese communities. But the Chinese were a key part of California's agricultural history. What can we learn about these Chinese communities in rural areas?

The panel will accompany three short Chinese American documentaries that capture these stories: