Her research has been published in national and international peer-reviewed journals, including "Capital Punishment on Trial: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides—A Question of Justice?"

Her books include, Immigration and the Law: Race, Citizenship, and Social Control Over Time (forthcoming); Ethnicity and Criminal Justice in the Era of Mass Incarceration: A Critical Reader on the Latino Experience (2017); and Latino Police Officers in the United States: An Examination of Emerging Trends and Issues (2015).

Conjointly, Álvarez endeavors as a columnist at Univision and Huffington Post where she portrays her research on the ethnic realities of Latinos and the U.S. legal system, and illustrates the importance of key issues, such as representation.

She was an organizer of the human wall that took place along the US-Mexico border in February 2017 in solidarity with the migrants.

Ola 365's central objective is to position 365 independent candidates, in an attempt to "refresh" the Mexican political system.