Kelly Lytle Lytle Hernandez

About the Author

Kelly Lytle Hernández is a distinguished historian and professor at UCLA, where she directs the Criminal Justice Research Hub and holds the Chester E. Fisk Chair in U.S. History. Her groundbreaking scholarship illuminates the intersections of race, migration, and state power in the American West, challenging conventional narratives of border enforcement and incarceration. Drawing from extensive archival research, Hernández's work exposes the violent legacies of U.S. immigration policies and their disproportionate impact on communities of color. As a public intellectual, she advocates for decarceral futures and equitable justice systems, blending rigorous academic analysis with accessible prose to engage scholars, policymakers, and activists alike. Her contributions have reshaped understandings of how borders and prisons perpetuate inequality in modern America.