Unequal Pathways: Race, Religion, and Resettlement in Spokane
Hannah Cordero-Johnson
BIO: Hi, I’m Hannah! I grew up in Colville, WA, and have lived in Spokane for the past ten years. As a non-traditional student, I didn’t begin college until I was 28, but returning to school later in life gave me a different perspective and a strong sense of purpose.
During my time at Whitworth, I worked as a research assistant for Dr. Stacy Keogh, where we led focus groups in churches to explore current views on immigration. That experience sparked my own research project on the lived experiences of immigrants and refugees in Spokane. I presented this work at the 2024 Pacific Sociological Association Conference and again at the 2025 Spokane Intercollegiate Research Conference. Through Whitworth’s Off Campus Programs, I had the opportunity to study housing and homelessness abroad in Copenhagen and Amsterdam and later traveled through the American South as part of a program on race and U.S. history.
MAJOR: Sociology
Minor: Criminology
Over the past two years, I’ve received a few awards that meant a lot to me—including the Whitworth Writing Award, the Sociology Department Scholarship, and the George Whitworth Honors Program Award for Outstanding Research. I’ve also been involved with the Pride Club, the Filipino American Student Association, and currently volunteer with Lutheran Community Services here in Spokane.
Looking ahead, I’m interested in continuing work that advocates for social and racial justice—whether through nonprofit work, research, or possibly grad or law school. I’m still figuring it out, but I know I want to keep helping people navigate systems that weren’t built with them in mind.
Project Overview: Immigration has long been a contentious issue in the U.S., but recent years have seen increasingly negative public attitudes shaped by race, religion, politics, and nationalism. Notably, research shows that white evangelical Christians often support restrictive immigration policies—despite professing compassion and a biblical call to welcome the stranger. This study explores how those contradictions play out locally in Spokane, Washington, by centering the voices of immigrants and refugees and examining how race, religion, and legal status shape their resettlement experiences.
The project builds on 2023 research alongside Dr. Stacy Keogh through World Relief, where we led church-based focus groups to assess current evangelical attitudes and views on immigration. While many expressed positive views, most lacked basic understanding of immigrant and refugee realities. Motivated by those findings, I conducted five in-depth interviews in the spring of 2024 with participants from Peru, South Sudan, Nepal, and Russia.
Through qualitative analysis, key barriers to integration emerged—including language access, employment restrictions, transportation gaps, and uneven experiences with faith-based aid. While churches and peers often provide vital support, institutional resources remain limited. Ongoing 2025 federal immigration rollbacks have further deepened uncertainty for many.
This research contributes to existing literature by disaggregating immigrant and refugee narratives and foregrounding participant voice. A supplemental survey is now underway to broaden these insights with quantitative data. Ultimately, this project aims to inform more equitable, culturally sensitive support systems across both civic and faith-based institutions in Spokane.