Jessica HyunJeong Lee

Current Research

As a racial and ethnic politics scholar, my research explore the intersection of social identity, immigration, and political engagement. My scholarship explores the many ways in which immigration policies shape identity formation, political attitudes, and political behavior.

My dissertation titled "The Impact of Institutional Intervention on Political Incorporation: The Effect of DACA on Young Unauthorized Immigrants" examines the role of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) has on Asian and Latino undocumented young adults in shaping their identity, political attitudes, and political incorporation. I examine this using mix-methods approach where I conducted in-depth interviews of 20 Asian and 12 Latino undocumented young adults, fielded my original survey experiment of 350 Asian and Latino undocumented immigrants, and analyzed 4 existing surveys (2017, 2019, and Covid-19 waves of the BRAVE Study and the California Health Interview Survey).

My other research projects investigate various questions regarding social identity, political participation, and partisanship of undocumented immigrants and racial minorities.

Working Papers

Lee, Jessica HyunJeong and Sara Sadhwani. Independents No More: The Influence of Asian Americans in the 2020 Elections and the State of Georgia. Under review.


Leung, Vivien, Evangel Penumaka, Jessica HyunJeong Lee, and Natalie Masuoka. The Contours of Attitudes Towards Undocumented Immigration: A Cross-racial Analysis. Under review.


Pérez, Efrén, Jessica HyunJeong Lee, Ana Oaxaca, Cole Matthews, and Madison Ritsema. Experimenting with Interview Language and Latino Support for COVID-19 Protocols. Under review.


Pérez, Efrén, Jessica HyunJeong Lee, Ana Oaxaca, Tania Solano Cervantes, Kimberly Lam, Jasmine García Rodríguez, and David McFall. Manifold Threats to Racial Identity Among White Partisans. Under review.


Chan, Nathan Kar Ming, Vivien Leung, Natalie Masuoka, and Jessica HyunJeong Lee. How Asian Americans Voted on A rmative Action: The Case of California Prop 16. Working paper.


Lee, Jessica HyunJeong and Natalie Masuoka. The Effect of Covid-19 Relief Policies on the Political Behavior of Undocumented Immigrants. Working paper.


Pérez, Efrén, Jessica HyunJeong Lee, and Gustavo A. Martir Luna. Partisan Identity among People of Color. Working paper.



Peer-Reviewed Publications

Lee, Jessica HyunJeong, Evangel Penumaka, and Natalie Masuoka. 2020. Asian American Voters in 2020: Analysis of Democratic Primary Voting and Lessons for Future Elections AAPI Nexus Journal Volume 17:1 & 2.

Other Academic Works

Gutierrez, Angela, Michael Herndon, Jessica HyunJeong Lee, Marcel Roman, and Natalie Masuoka. 2020. Democratic Party 2020: Analysis of Latino and Asian American Voting in 10 States. Los Angeles: Latino Policy and Politics Initiative.


Lee, Jessica HyunJeong, Nathan Chan, and Natalie Masuoka. 2020. From A rmative Action to Gig Economy: Racial Di erences in the Support for California Propositions in the 2020 Election. Los Angeles: Latino Policy and Politics Initiative.