In 1992, he published the book Shadowed Lives: Undocumented Immigrants in American Society, which provided an ethnographic account of Chavez's work among Mexican and Central American undocumented immigrants in San Diego County, California. This book appeared in a second edition in 1997. In 1993, Chavez received the Margaret Mead Award from the American Anthropological Association and the Society for Applied Anthropology based on his research, book, and work on behalf of immigrants.

Beginning in 1991, with a grant from the National Cancer Institute, Chavez undertook a three-year project titled "Cancer and Latinas," which examined knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and practices related to breast and cervical cancer in Orange County, California. In 2001, Chavez published Covering Immigration: Popular Images and the Politics of the Nation (University of California Press), which is the culmination of his interest in the ways immigrants are represented in the media and popular discourse in the United States.

Sponsored by Chicano Studies, El Centro Chicano, CSRE and Cultural and Social Anthropology