Ending civil immigration detention and criminalization policy, history, and legal strategies will be the focus of discussion during Western New England University's Law Review Symposium scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, February 26 and 27, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The virtual event is free and open to the public.
The Symposium will explore various arguments that challenge the systemic use of civil detention of migrants and asylum seekers entering the United States. This includes critical examination of the history of immigration-related detention, the humanitarian crisis that has developed at the U.S./Mexican border in recent years, and discussion of legal strategies and policy initiatives to radically reimagine the normative use of the civil immigration detention system that incarcerates and detains more than 50,000 immigrants daily and over 400,000 yearly.
David Hernández, associate professor of Latina/o Studies at Mount Holyoke College and co-editor of Critical Ethnic Studies: A Reader and César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, professor of law at the University of Denver and author of Crimmigration Law and Migrating to Prison: America's Obsession with Locking Up Immigrants will be featured keynote speakers.
Topics under consideration include, but are not limited to, how the new abolitionism can address family separation caused by Trump's "zero- tolerance" and detention policies, exorbitant bond requirements ordered by the immigration courts, mistreatment of asylum seekers, and the horrific detention conditions for migrants and asylum seekers that have further deteriorated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The inhumane treatment of migrants underscores the urgent need to radically rethink immigrant detention and develop immigration policy that safeguards the dignity and rights of migrants.
For a full list of panelists, including scholars, activists, and local practitioners and to register visit the Law Review website.
The Western New England Law Review, established in 1978, is published by students at Western New England University School of Law. The Board of Editors and Junior Staff consist of students who are selected based on academic performance, or on their performance in a write-on competition. Each issue of the Law Review typically consists of essays and articles, written by legal scholars and practitioners, and student "notes," written by Law Review members during their first year on the Law Review. The Law Review gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the School of Law and the advice and assistance of its faculty.
