Spring 2027

Immigration, Crime, and Enforcement

Studies immigration, crime, and border enforcement through historical and present-day debates, focusing on Latinx/e immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border.

offering recorded3–4 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Michael Light4.1/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Michael Light

Lectures moved quickly, requiring familiarity with numbers and prior stats knowledge. Exams were detailed and demanded precise recall of graphs, while written assignments received mixed feedback on their difficulty.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Discuss trends in immigration, crime, and border enforcement in recent decades and analyze these patterns through the application of theory in the social sciences and empirical data.

  • Engage major theoretical debates in migration scholarship. Why do people (not) move? How are migration decisions made? What effect does migration have on (a) receiving societies, (b) sending societies, and (c) migrants themselves? How is migration organized by gender? What differentiates forced and unforced migration? How are immigrants incorporated into new societies?

  • Develop a broader understanding of border enforcement through critical analysis of immigration policies and practices from an international perspective. That is, are recent trends in border enforcement unique to the United States?

  • Critically assess the often-controversial issues surrounding ethnicity, race, crime, and the law in society, drawing on readings and class discussion.

Source: UW Guide 1 UW Guide 2 UW Guide 3

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

C&E SOC/​SOC 140, 210, 211,SOC 181,ASIAN AM/​AFROAMER/​AMER IND/​CHICLA 102,CHICLA 201, 210,POLI SCI/​CHICLA 231,HISTORY/​CHICLA/​GEN&WS 245,LEGAL ST/​SOC 131, or POLI SCI/​LEGAL ST 217(or FOLKLORE 102 prior to Fall 2026)

  • C&E SOC/SOC 140, 210, 211,SOC 181,ASIAN AM/AFROAMER/AMER IND/CHICLA 102,CHICLA 201, 210,POLI SCI/CHICLA 231,HISTORY/CHICLA/GEN&WS 245,LEGAL ST/SOC 131, or POLI SCI/LEGAL ST 217(or FOLKLORE 102 prior to Fall 2026)
CHICLA/LEGALST/SOC 443

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • C&E SOC/SOC 140, 210, 211,SOC 181,ASIAN AM/AFROAMER/AMER IND/CHICLA 102,CHICLA 201, 210,POLI SCI/CHICLA 231,HISTORY/CHICLA/GEN&WS 245,LEGAL ST/SOC 131, or POLI SCI/LEGAL ST 217(or FOLKLORE 102 prior to Fall 2026)

Professors

Spring 2027

Michael Light

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.47/5 from 19 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

For this course: 4.4/5 raw quality · 3.0/5 difficulty · 8 reviews

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Past student reviews · Michael Light

Michael Light led engaging, fast-paced lectures that emphasized class discussion and detailed exam preparation. Students found the tests thorough, requiring familiarity with graphs and specific numbers, though review sessions were provided. While several reviewers noted his strong personality or ego, they generally described him as knowledgeable and clear in setting expectations for assignments and exams.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2023: 3.49 GPA, 79.7% A/AB (n=74 letter grades); Spring 2024: 3.43 GPA, 68.7% A/AB (n=67 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.63 GPA, 81.5% A/AB (n=65 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

MICHAEL LIGHT is recorded teaching in Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 700
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 700
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 700

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Michael Light

Michael Light taught an engaging course with clear expectations and lively lectures. Students appreciated his knowledge and humor, though some noted a superior demeanor.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.43 GPA, 68.7% A/AB (n=67 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.63 GPA, 81.5% A/AB (n=65 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.80 GPA, 92.8% A/AB (n=69 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Michael Light

Lectures moved quickly, requiring familiarity with numbers and prior stats knowledge. Exams were detailed and demanded precise recall of graphs, while written assignments received mixed feedback on their difficulty.

Past student reviews · Michael Light

Students found the grading process stressful; a separate grader marked written assignments harshly, and the overall system used single-point grades rather than ranges, making outcomes feel unpredictable.

Topics

  • Immigration, crime, and border enforcement
  • Latinx/e immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border
  • Theoretical debates in migration scholarship
  • International perspectives on border enforcement

Skills

  • Analyze immigration and crime trends using social science theory and empirical data.
  • Engage with theoretical debates on migration decisions, effects, and incorporation.
  • Critically analyze border enforcement policies from an international perspective.
  • Assess controversial issues regarding ethnicity, race, crime, and law.

Grades

Historical instructor

Spring 2027 · Projected

Before grades are released

– average GPA

Approximate 80% prediction interval

About this estimate

The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 5 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.

The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.

4 earlier forecasts · 0.13 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Spring 2027

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1280 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
CHICLA/LEGALST/SOC 443 · Spring 2027

Immigration, Crime, and Enforcement

Recorded 2026-10-14
CHICLA/LEGALST/SOC 443 · Spring 2027

Immigration, Crime, and Enforcement

Recorded 2026-10-14
CHICLA/LEGALST/SOC 443 · Spring 2027

Immigration, Crime, and Enforcement

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
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    "title": "Immigration, Crime, and Enforcement",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall"
  },
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    "offering_id": "1274:900:025094",
    "course_id": "CHICLA/LEGALST/SOC 443",
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    "source_course_id": "025094",
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]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "95a2158b67be95151fea1f5b944324e9dd218eddf0b1a3a1c5ac391991e44fc1",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}