Julia received her undergraduate degree from Carleton College, where she majored in Sociology/ Anthropology and concentrated in Latin American studies. Her research interests lie in international migration and immigrant assimilation, focusing on the United States. She is particularly interested in the development and effects of local immigration ordinances and their relationship to rising income inequality. She is also interested in looking at the occupational mobility of first and second generation immigrants, the effects of national visa policies on immigrant outcomes, and the relationship of immigration to the expansion of the informal or semi-formal economy.