Faculty Directory

Alejandro Olayo-Méndez, S.J.

Assistant Professor

Profile

Alejandro Olayo-Méndez is an assistant professor at the Boston College School of Social Work. His research focuses on migrants’ and refugees’ livelihoods and the role of humanitarian organizations in contexts of migration and forced displacement.  He has conducted extensive ethnographic research along migration routes in Mexico. His book  by NYU Press explores how casas de migrantes or migrant shelters shape the migratory processes in the region. In recent years,  he has travelled widely across the Mexico-U.S. Border studying migrants’ digital practices, the impact of the CBP One™  app, and migrants’ well-being. He published part of his findings in the report——in collaboration with Jesuit Refugee Service/USA. Additionally, he wrote an article discussing the experience of Latino immigrants in the United States during the pandemic. He led a research project with the Jesuit Network with Migrants (Latin America and the Caribbean), which examines integration practices and accompaniment of refugees and migrants in 14 countries and their lived experiences in those countries. Alejandro is also a Jesuit Catholic Priest.

Clinical Practice Experience

Alejandro has done clinical work with migrant women in Chicago, IL, and was a school social worker at Gonzaga Preparatory School in Spokane, WA.

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