History

The Center for Comparative Immigration Studies (CCIS) was established at the University of California San Diego in March 1999 under the leadership of Dr. Wayne Cornelius, a pioneering scholar of international migration. From its founding, CCIS was conceived as a hub for rigorous, comparative, and interdisciplinary research on global migration, grounded in UC San Diego’s distinctive position near the U.S.–Mexico border. Over its next two decades, CCIS grew into an organized research unit at UC San Diego and a recognized home for high-quality policy-oriented research on international migration. Under the leadership of subsequent Co-Directors Dr. David FitzGerald, Dr. John Skrentny, and Dr. Claire Adida, the Center expanded its research portfolio, academic programming, and global reach, to study international migration from a broad geographical and interdisciplinary perspective. CCIS research came to span migrant-sending and receiving contexts across North America, Europe, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region. The Center also looked at all kinds of different migrants, including refugees and the forcibly displaced.

Today, from its vantage point just 30 miles from the Mexican border, CCIS maintains a worldwide network of scholars and partner institutions. This network includes more than 355 Research Associates based in 25 countries and 35 institutional affiliates, including 12 outside the United States. 

Throughout its 25+ year history, CCIS faculty, staff, and fellows have contributed regularly to local, national, and international media and public discourse, and their scholarship has informed migration policy and practice around the world.

In addition, CCIS has long prioritized public engagement and education. Based at UC San Diego’s Eleanor Roosevelt College, the Center serves as a key site for undergraduate and graduate training, offering distinctive academic programming on campus and through experiential initiatives such as the Mexican Migration Field Research Program. CCIS has also maintained a longstanding Visiting Research Fellowship Program and research seminar series, open to the campus community and the public, fostering intellectual exchange among visiting fellows, guest scholars, UC San Diego faculty, and international speakers.