Professor de la Garza combines interests in Political Behavior and Public Policy. In Political Behavior he specializes in ethnic politics, with particular emphasis on Latino public opinion and electoral involvement. His primary interests in public policy include immigration and immigrant settlement and incorporation. He has edited, co-edited and co-authored numerous books including The Future of the Voting Rights Act; Muted Voices: Latinos and the 2000 Election; Sending Money Home: Hispanic Remittances and Community Development; Latinos and U. S. Foreign Policy: Lobbying for the Homeland?; Bridging the Border: Transforming Mexico-U. S. Relations; At the Crossroads: Mexcan and U. S. Immigration Policiy; Awash in the Mainstreeam: Latinos and the 1996 Elections; Ethnic Ironies: Latinos and the 1992 Elections; Latino Voices: Mexican, Puerto Rican and Cuban Perspectives on American Politics; Barrio Ballots: Latinos and the 1990 Elections and The Chicano Political Experience. He has also published in leading professional journals such as the American Journal of Political Science, Latin American Research Review, Social Science Quarterly, and International Migration Review. Currently he is directing studies on immigrant incorporation, Latinos and U. S. foreign policy and Latino voting patterns.

Professor de la Garza has also participated in the evaluation and design of community service programs including increasing immigrant access to health services in California, and in evaluating Texas’ state-sponsored naturalization campaign.

He has also chaired a series of seminars on Latinos and foreign policy that have emphasized increasing Hispanic involvement in international affairs. He served as Vice-President of the American Political Science Association and received the Life-time Achievement Award of the Committee on the Status of Latinos in the Profession of the American Political Science Association in 1993. He is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations.