Vicente Celestino Mata, Jr. is a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of California, Irvine in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society. He holds an M.A. degree in Sociology from the University of California, Merced (2019) and a B.A. in Sociology and Chicana/o Studies from California State University, Fullerton (2017). He also earned an A.A. degree in Sociology and Interdisciplinary Studies from Fullerton Community College (2014).
His research focuses on structural and racial inequality, with particular interests in immigration, refugee and asylum law, civil and human rights; judicial decision-making; monetary sanctions; mass incarceration and rehabilitation; and Settler Colonial Biopolitics.
As a formerly incarcerated youth, first-generation student, and scholar of color, Vicente is committed to researching projects and creating spaces that aid marginalized and vulnerable populations.