Promoting Civil Discourse & Intellectual Dialogue Series - States of Incarceration

Promoting Civil Discourse & Intellectual Dialogue Series

States of Incarceration: Connecting Stories of Immigration Detention and Mass Incarceration and the Movements Against Them

The systems of immigration detention and mass incarceration are intertwined: immigrants and citizens accused of crimes are often detained in the same buildings, controlled by the same personnel, managed by the same corporations. Expansions of prisons have fueled expansion of immigration detention, and vice versa. Yet they are often understood — and contested — separately. This event will bring together faculty, students, and advocates ​in both immigration detention and justice-impacted communities, from Arizona, California, Florida, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Texas. They will share first-hand stories of crackdowns on immigrant communities in each of their communities, and their connection to experiences of incarceration. They will also reflect on the narratives that have divided the movements against immigration detention and mass incarceration, and envision what stories, scholarship, and pedagogies can help bring them together. These discussions are the first step in a process to reimagine States of Incarceration, a participatory public memory project on mass incarceration and immigration detention created by students and directly impacted people in 30 states.