JOSÉ O. PÉREZ
Welcome! I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at The Ohio State University, specializing in International Relations and Comparative Politics. In Fall 2025, I will be joining Texas A&M University-San Antonio as an Assistant Professor of Political Science.
My dissertation, "Welcoming Migrants and Refugees: Governance, Labor, and Integration of Venezuelans in Brazil," theorizes migration governance from a bottom-up perspective, highlighting how grassroots actors play a key role in shaping integration policies across the Global South. Specifically, it presents a case study of Venezuelan migration to Brazil since 2017, focusing on the Brazilian government’s integration program, known as “Operation Welcome.” The dissertation explores the role of small town bureaucrats in integrating Venezuelans into local communities, and how bureaucrats learn new skills from this process. Other chapters present how Venezuelan men and women face varying degrees of insecurity within refugee housing centers at the border due to gendered notions of who is “vulnerable,” and the obstacles they face within local labor markets due to gendered, racial, and ableist readings of their identity that devalue their skills and work experience. My research methods included extensive fieldwork, semi-structured interviews, and participant observations conducted over the course of fourteen months and five different field sites across Brazil. This research was funded by the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Grant, Mershon Center for International Security Studies, Susan Pratt Munthe Graduate Scholarship for Study on Latin America, and The Ohio State University.
My research interests include migration and refugee politics, security studies, and global health politics, with a regional focus on Latin America. My research publications include peer-reviewed articles in Security Studies, Security Dialogue, International Feminist Journal of Politics, and Latin American Perspectives.
My family and I are originally from Holguín, Cuba, but I grew up in Tampa, Florida. I attended the University of Florida for my undergraduate education, where I majored in Political Science and Latin American Studies. After college, I lived in Brazil for four years, where I taught English via the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Program and completed an M.A. in International Strategic Studies at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. Outside of academia, I enjoy gardening, foreign films and series, exploring new restaurants, and traveling.
