Broadly, my research examines how public policies structure how we live together in multi-ethnic federal democracies. More specifically, I study the causes and consequences of local policies related to immigrants in the United States. I examine why cities have implemented policies designed to include immigrants into local civic life, and the way those policies shape immigrants’ civic belonging, empowerment, and engagement — all under the backdrop of a hostile federal climate.

Cities Creating Citizens: The Local Politics and Policies of Immigrant Civic Inclusion

My book project – Cities Creating Citizens: The Local Politics and Policies of Immigrant Civic Inclusion – argues that cities’ specific economic and political incentives lead them to socially construct immigrants as clients of the state, economic contributors, political tokens, or local citizens. Cities construct specific policy regimes in line with these understandings of immigrants, and each regime produces distinct feedback effects in terms of immigrants’ civic engagement. I use a multi-method approach, combining quantitative analyses of national policy data with in-depth case studies and interview data. I interviewed roughly 100 local politicians, bureaucrats, staff at immigrant serving organizations, and immigrants themselves from four cities: Austin, TX, Charlotte, NC, Columbus, OH, and San Francisco, CA. These sites were chosen as they represent a city with a long history of immigration in a more amenable political climate (San Francisco), as well as new-destination cities where immigration is a contested issue (Austin, Charlotte, and Columbus).

Refereed Publications

Dias, Megan. 2026. Cities Creating Citizens: Policy Feedback and the Effects of Local Naturalization Support on Immigrant Civic Engagement. Policy Studies Journal. Early View.

Dias, Megan, Derek Epp, Marcel Roman & Hannah Walker. 2023. Consent Searches: Evaluating the Usefulness of a Common and Highly Discretionary Police Practice. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies. 1–57.

Buchanan, Ross, Megan Dias & Christopher Wlezien. 2022. “On Collective Representation.” In Thomas Rudolph (ed.) Handbook of Politics and Public Opinion. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Cameron, Maxwell, Megan Dias & Chuka Ejeckam. The 2018 B.C. Referendum on Electoral Reform: The Challenges of Citizen Consultations. 2019. Journal of Parliamentary and Political Law. Vol13, Special Issue, 75-86.

Select Works in Process

Dias, Megan and Abigail Fisher Williamson. Pragmatic Welcoming: Cities’ Responses to Immigrants Across the Obama, Trump, and Biden Administrations. (Conditionally Accepted at Urban Affairs Review)

  • From 2026-2028, Abigail Fisher Williamson and I will be engaging an an effort to expand and update this project to include data from the second Trump administration. This project is funded by the Russell Sage Foundation ($200,000)

Dias, Megan, Janelle Wong, Ron Hayduk, Helen Ho, Kathleen Coll, Marni Fritz, Monica Gao, and Grace Hartzell. One Person, One (Local) Vote: Noncitizen Voting, Immigrant Belonging, and Civic Efficacy within a Hostile Federal Climate. (R&R at Political Research Quarterly)

  • Research funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ($412,000)

Dias, Megan and Abigail Fisher Williamson. Pragmatic Welcoming: Cities’ Responses to Immigrants Across the Obama, Trump, and Biden Administrations. (R&R at Urban Affairs Review)

  • From 2026-2028, Abigail Fisher Williamson and I will be engaging an an effort to expand and update this project to include data from the second Trump administration. This project is funded by the Russell Sage Foundation ($200,000)

Wong, Janelle, Megan Dias, Lydia Walther-Rodriguez, Lidia Rivas, and Amena Talajawala. Against the Tide: Local Resident Voting and Immigrant Rights in Maryland. (Under Review)

Unwala, Naquia, Megan Dias, Phillip Singer, and Charley Willison. Decentralization and Policy Responsibility for Homelessness among Migrant Populations. (Selected for Consideration for Thematic Issue of the Russell Sage Foundation Journal)

Dias, Megan. Differentiating Welcoming: Variations in Local Immigration Policies Across U.S. Cities. (Manuscript in Progress)

Dias, Megan. Citizenship from Below: Experiences of Multi-Level Citizenship within a Hostile Federal Environment. (Manuscript in Progress)

Dias, Megan. Backlash or Solidarity? The Impact of Immigrant Civic Empowerment Policies on Non-Immigrants. (Data Collection in Progress)