Santiago Vidal Calvo

Santiago Vidal Calvo is a Cities policy analyst at the Manhattan Institute, working primarily on government accountability and transparency through MI’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) efforts. He deploys open-records requests in New York, California, and other states to secure and analyze data that reveal inefficiency, illuminate policy outcomes, and empower citizens to hold public officials to account. He also works on immigration research, assessing how visa, asylum, and enforcement policies influence urban labor markets and civic integration, and providing data-driven recommendations that reconcile economic and security needs. His commentary ranges across government efficiency, urban policy, immigration, ideological influence, national security, and foreign policy.

Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Vidal Calvo immigrated to the United States in 2021. He earned a B.A. in political science and economics from Fordham University in 2023 and a Master of Public Policy from Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy in 2025, where he was a Tech & Public Policy Scholar from 2023 to 2025. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in political science at Texas A&M University’s Bush School of Government and Public Service, where he is entering his second year. He completed the Stand Together Fellowship’s Koch Associate Program in 2026 and served as a Spring 2026 Young Voices Contributor.

Vidal Calvo’s writing has appeared in the New York Post, City Journal, UnHerd, National Review, USA Today, The Hill, The Daily Wire, RealClearPolitics, RealClearPolicy, RealClearDefense, The Spectator, El Espectador Colombia, and Caracas Chronicles.