Alvaro Huerta

Alvaro Huerta is a joint faculty member of Urban & Region Planning (URP) and Ethnic & Women’s Studies (EWS) at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

As an Associate Professor (effective August 17, 2020) and researcher, Huerta focuses on community and economic development, critical race theory, identity politics, Chicana/o and Latina/o studies, immigration and Mexican diaspora, social movements, social networks and the informal economy.

Early life

A United States native, Huerta grew up in Colonia Libertad in Tijuana, and in the Ramona Gardens and Big Hazard housing projects in East Los Angeles. He attended public inner-city schools and was the first in his family to pursue higher education.

Education

Huerta earned a Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley, Department of City and Regional Planning. He also holds Master's and Bachelor's degrees from University of California, Los Angeles. Once interested in studying mathematics at University of California, Los Angeles, he attributes his lack of success in the field of mathematics to a "racist society."

Career

Prior to his current Associate Professorship at University of California, Berkeley, Huerta was a Research Fellow at the Latinx Education Research Center, Santa Clara University. He was also previously a visiting scholar at the Chicano Studies Research Center, University of California, Los Angeles from 2010 to 2014. From 2010 to 2013, he also served as Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Urban Planning and Cesar E. Chavez Department of Chicana/o Studies, UCLA.

Huerta has also contributed articles related to racial and working-class issues for numerous periodicals and online outlets, such as Boyle Heights Beat and LA Progressive A self-proclaimed independent, he has publicly spoken against the immigration policies of President Donald J. Trump, his voters, and conservatives in general, including Latinos. He has gone after the Republican party and white voters, referring to them in general terms as racist.

Before attending graduate school, Huerta was a community organizer in Los Angeles, and was instrumental in the defeat of a power plant in South Gate and in fighting the City of Los Angeles’ leaf-blower ban, which disproportionately affected immigrant gardeners.

Publications

• Latina/o Immigrant Communities in the Xenophobic Era of Trump and Beyond (Hamilton Books | Rowman & Littlefield, June 2019)
• Reframing the Latino Immigration Debate: Towards a Humanistic Paradigm (San Diego State University Press, 2013)
• Lead editor of People of Color in the United States: Contemporary Issues in Education, Work, Communities, Health, and Immigration (Volume 4).