People’s Migrant School Links UConn with Hartford Immigrant Community

The University of Connecticut just kicked off a new community-centered educational initiative in Hartford. This project brings university research straight into conversations with immigrant residents.

The first session of the People’s Migrant School tried to close the gap between the classroom and the real world. Immigrant voices, lived experiences, and policy concerns took center stage, shaping the academic conversation in ways that felt overdue.

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UConn and Hartford Deportation Defense Launch People’s Migrant School

This whole thing is a collaboration between the University of Connecticut and Hartford Deportation Defense. That’s a grassroots group that’s been supporting immigrant families across the capital region and beyond, including places like New Britain, East Hartford, and Manchester.

UConn anthropology professor Camilo Ruiz leads the People’s Migrant School. It’s set up as a recurring semester-long program, meant to push academic work out of the university bubble and into neighborhoods where immigration policy isn’t just theory—it’s daily life.

Breaking Down the Wall Between Campus and Community

Ruiz and his students built the program around a big question: how can university research actually help immigrant communities in Hartford, West Hartford, and nearby towns like Windsor and Bloomfield?

Instead of treating residents like “subjects,” the school welcomes them as partners, critics, and co-educators. The first session came as a direct response to a recent wave of immigrant detentions in Hartford that rattled families from Parkville to the South End.

Organizers wanted a space where people could share information, strategy, and support in real time. The urgency was obvious, and so was the need for honest conversation.

Student Projects Bring Policy and Personal Stories to the Forefront

One highlight of the People’s Migrant School is student-led research that’s actually useful for the community. Ruiz’s students presented their final projects in English, and a Spanish translator made sure everyone could follow along and jump in.

This bilingual setup really mattered in a region where more than 150,000 immigrants live in the greater Hartford area. Many have roots in the Caribbean, South America, and Central America, and plenty have called Connecticut home since at least 2009.

Topics Grounded in Hartford’s Immigrant Reality

The presentations dug into issues that neighbors in Hartford and nearby cities like New Haven and Bridgeport deal with every day. Projects explored:

Immigration agency infrastructure – how local, state, and federal systems overlap, and where people often get stuck in the bureaucracy.
The Trust Act – breaking down Connecticut’s limits on local police working with federal immigration authorities, plus what rights immigrants keep when dealing with law enforcement.
Health rights – what services are available no matter your documentation status, and how families can safely get medical care.
Personal stories of immigration raids – first-hand accounts showing the emotional, economic, and psychological toll of enforcement actions.

Pairing policy explanations with real stories made it clear how laws on paper play out in Hartford’s North End, South End, and everywhere in between.

Community Voices Challenge Political Barriers

The event drew community members, activists, and professors from all over central Connecticut. Advocates who regularly support immigrants in places like Waterbury and Middletown showed up, turning the session into a true dialogue.

Organizers pointed out that immigrants are deeply involved in civic life—they work, pay taxes, raise families. But they still run into major hurdles when trying to navigate political institutions.

Engaging Predominantly White Political Institutions

Organizer Constanza Segovia and community activist Ruth Valera didn’t hold back about the obstacles immigrants face trying to influence policy in mostly white political spaces.

They described systems that often feel confusing, unwelcoming, or even hostile to non-citizens and people of color. Language barriers, fear of detention, and a long history of discrimination can make immigrants think twice before attending public meetings, contacting officials, or testifying on laws—even when those policies hit their families hardest.

A Continuing Commitment to Hartford’s Immigrant Neighborhoods

For Ruiz, this first People’s Migrant School is just a starting point. He sees the program as a regular feature each semester—a place where UConn students from Storrs, Hartford, and beyond sit with community members from cities like Norwalk and Stamford to share research, strategy, and stories.

The bigger goal? Make university knowledge not just available, but usable for immigrant neighborhoods. That means building research around what the community actually needs, offering info in multiple languages, and keeping the conversation open for feedback and collaboration.

Reimagining What a Public University Can Be

By rooting academic work in Hartford’s immigrant experience, the People’s Migrant School is shaking up what a public university can actually do for its city—and, honestly, for all of Connecticut. Instead of keeping research locked away behind campus walls, this project turns it into a shared resource for families who are navigating tricky legal, health, and political systems.

As the program keeps growing, who knows how far its impact might reach? It could inspire communities from New London to Danbury to team up with universities and build more informed, engaged, and resilient immigrant neighborhoods across Connecticut.

Here is the source article for this story: Hartford’s ‘People’s Migrant School’ connects UConn to community

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