The Expansion, Indiscriminate Use, and Misuse of Detention as a Pillar of the U.S. Mass Deportation Campaign

About This Dialogue

This panel will discuss:

• Expanded mandatory detention
• Conditions of confinement
• The detention of pregnant women, unaccompanied children, and other vulnerable immigrants

It will examine detention standards, conditions of deportation, third-country removal to Mexico, and legal remedies to detention. The latter includes the proliferation of habeas corpus petitions. Like all Ignatian Migration Dialogues, this webinar hopes to promote partnerships, greater engagement on this pressing issue, and successful policy/advocacy strategies. 

Moderator, Donald Kerwin, JRS/USA 

Guest Speakers

 Jill Williams is a Principal Research and Evaluation Manager at the Acacia Center for Justice where she leads mixed-methods research and evaluation projects aimed at increasing unaccompanied children’s access to legal services and justice more broadly. In this role, she has led geographic studies of children’s access to representation nationally and analyses of federal policies and practices that have eroded the protections and rights afforded unaccompanied children in recent years.  She holds a PhD in Human Geography from Clark University, with specializations in political and feminist geography. Prior to joining Acacia, she was a faculty member at the University of Arizona. 

Mary Holper is Director of the Boston College Legal Services LAB Immigration Clinic and a clinical professor at Boston College Law School. Prior to joining BC Law’s faculty, Holper founded and directed the Roger Williams Immigration Clinic; she also worked as a human rights fellow at the Boston College Center for Human Rights and International Justice, a visiting assistant professor at BC Law, a detention fellow for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., and an Equal Justice Works Fellow at the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition. Throughout her career, Holper and her clinic students have represented immigration detainees who face removal and have participated in impact litigation that challenges the overuse of mandatory detention, indefinite detention, and crime-based deportation. In addition, Holper has written and co-authored law reviews, blog posts, and reference guides regarding immigration issues. 

Juan Cuéllar Torres is the Director of Education and Advocacy at the Kino Border Initiative, where he leads binational strategies to advance migrant justice at the U.S.–Mexico border. In this role, he leads initiatives that promote migration with dignity and build relationships with political, social, and faith leaders. 
 
Originally trained as a lawyer in Colombia and later earning a Master of Public Policy in Germany, Juan has experience in immigration policy, public international law, and program management across governmental, nonprofit, and multilateral settings. His prior roles include leading nationwide refugee program operations with the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) and representing Colombia at the United Nations on multilateral negotiations related to international law.