Conference participants

[ENG] On September 1-2, the Law School of the University of A Coruna (UDC) hosted the International Conference ‘Changing Landscapes of Immigration Detention’, which gathered some 50 scholars from a wide number of African, American, Australasian, and European countries. This workshop was chaired by Ana Ballesteros (ECRIM) and Cristina Fernández-Bessa (ECRIM) and it was the closing activity of the Marie Curie project ‘Governmigration’ which was granted by the European Research Agency to Dr Ana Ballesteros (2018-2021). The conference was jointly organised by ECRIM, the Center of Criminology and Socio-Legal Studies of the University of Toronto, Canada and the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. The conference has also been funded by the Vice-rectorate fron Science policy, research and transfer of the University of A Coruña.

From left to right: Ana Ballesteros, Xulio Ferreiro, Cristina Fernández-Bessa

From left to right: Patricia Faraldo, Kelly Hannah-Moffat

On Thursday, September 1 the conference was opened by the Dean of the UDC Law School and ECRIM member, Xulio Ferreiro, and the two academic chairs, whose introduction speech was followed by the first plenary lecture, given by Kelly Hannah-Moffat (University of Toronto). Prof Hannah-Moffat presented a paper called ‘Automated decisions, risk and the ‘datafied subject’ in criminal justice and immigration control’.

Cristina Güerri

From left to right: Marián Fuentes, Jukka Könönen

Two parallel panel sessions completed the pre-lunch session. Session 1A gathered the presentations ‘Border control within Spanish prisons? Intersections between immigration control and imprisonment in the Southern border of Europe’, given by Cristina Güerri (University of Malaga, Spain) and ‘Multiple functions of immigration detention: Detention and deportation apparatus in Finland’, made by Jukka Könönen (University of Helsinki, Finland).

From left to right: Aino Korvensyrjä, Silvia Rodríguez-López and Gustavo de la Orden

In session 1B, in turn, Gustavo de la Orden (University of Deusto, Spain) presented his paper ‘”Pre-entry screening procedure”, a new form of immigration detention in the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum: The Spanish borders as a policy laboratory’, whilst Aino Korvensyrjä (University of Helsinki, Finland) reflected upon ‘Alternatives to detention in Germany: Duldung, semi-open camps and contested enforcement after 2015’ and Ivana Belén Ruiz Estramil (University of the Basque Country, Spain) talked about ‘From Migrant Classification Centres to the outsourcing of the responsibility to protect’.

From left to right: Iker Barbero, Julia Manek, Elena Enciso

Subsequently, in session 2A Elena Enciso (University of Málaga, Spain) made her presentation ‘Migratory temporary spaces and their impact on the people who inhabit them: definition and minimum parameters of habitability quality Spain’ and Julia Manek (University of Frankfurt, Germany) gave her talk ‘Detention & deterrence from the global to the intimate – the production of torturing environments at external[ized] borders: EU, Australia, Japan, Turkey and Greece’, whereas Gregory L. Cuéllar (Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, US) intervened remotely to present his paper ‘The Carceral Logic of Religious Spaces in Immigration Detention US/UK’.

Session 2B

Simultaneously, session 2B had as well three presentations: ‘Elimination Through Migration and Crime Policies in the United States’, by Yolanda Vazquez (Cincinnati School of Law, US), ‘From Prisons to Camps to Prisons: The Institutionalization of Immigration Detention in Germany’, by Sabrina Axster (Johns Hopkins University, US), and ‘Detention for Illegal Entry and Deportation Practices in Spain, 1955-1980’ by Ariela House (independent researcher, Spain).

From left to right: Giulia Fabini, José A. Brandariz

Ulla Berg

From left to right: Giulia Fabini, Molly Joeck

Two additional parallel panel sessions were held in the first day of the conference. In session 3A, José A. Brandariz (ECRIM) presented his paper ‘Coronavirus and Immigration Detention in Europe: The Short Summer of Abolitionism?’, whilst Ulla Berg (Rutgers University, US) gave a talk on ‘The Afterlife of Pandemic Protocols: Post-Covid Changes and Continuities in US immigration Detention’, and reflecting as well on detention policies and coronavirus-related measures Molly Joeck (University of British Columbia, Canada) made her presentation ‘Back to business as usual: post-pandemic immigration detention in Canada’.

From left to right: Iker Barbero, David Castro

Parallel session 3B brought together three additional presentations: ‘Double Containment, Double Escape: Diffusing Bordering Practices in the Bosnian Canton of Una Sana’ by Benedetta Zocchi (Queen Mary University, UK), ‘When return orders are more than just a deportation receipt: Transit migration, administrative documents and assistance centres’, by Iker Barbero (University of the Basque Country, Spain), and ‘Immigration Detention and the Imperative of Abolition’ by Sharry Aiken and Stephanie J. Silverman (Queen’s University, Canada).

From left to right: Ana Ballesteros, Martina Tazzioli

Two additional activities brought to a close the intense first day of this international workshop. Martina Tazzioli (Goldsmiths, University of London, UK) gave a plenary speech titled ‘Confining by choking and the withholding of time: asylum seekers’ counter-discourses in Greek refugee camps’. Subsequently, Irene Pons and Christine Kane (University of Central Florida, US) showed their documentary film ‘A Break for Impact’ (2021).

From left to right: Cristina Fernández-Bessa, Sanja Milivojevic

On Friday, September 2 the second day of the international workshop was opened by the last plenary speech. Sanja Milivojevic (University of Bristol, UK) gave a talk on ‘Technology and detention of non-citizens’. This plenary activity was followed by a day-long of parallel panel sessions.

From left to right: Kelly Hannah-Moffat, Justin Iverson

From left to right: Kelly Hannah-Moffat, Hillary Farber, Liz Bradley

Session 4A, which was focused on immigration detention and technology, hosted three presentations: ‘Landscapes of Digital Detention: changes and continuities in the deployment of electronic monitoring as “alternatives to detention” in the USA’ by Carolina Sánchez Boe (Aarhus University, Denmark), ‘Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Immigrant Detention Systems’ by Justin Iverson (University of Nevada, US), and ‘Credibility assessments in humanitarian protection cases adjudicated by video’ by Liz Bradley (University of Pennsylvania, US) and Hillary Farber (University of Massachusetts, US).

Session 4B

Concomitantly, Luděk Stavinoha (University of East Anglia, UK) presented his paper ‘Unruly subjects: Everyday arts of resistance in the Aegean hotspots’, Anne Neylon (University of Liverpool, UK) talked about ‘Napier Barracks: Spectacles of Deterrence and Ripples of Criminalisation’ and Cecilia Isabel Vasquez (UC Davis Global Migration Center, US) made a presentation on ‘Emergent Community Responses to Adelanto Detention Facility’ in session 4B.

Mirian Giovanna Martinez-Aranda presenting her paper

From left to right: Patricia Faraldo, Ingrid Eagly

Stephanie Peng

Two additional panel sessions completed the pre-lunch programme. Session 5A gathered three presentations made by University of California scholars: ‘Precarious Legal Patchworking: Detained Immigrants’ Access to Justice’ by Mirian Giovanna Martinez-Aranda (University of California, Davis, US), ‘The Perils of Detained Immigration Adjudication’ by Ingrid Eagly (University of California, Los Angeles, US), and ‘Politics of Asylum: The Role of Partisanship in the Asylum Decision of Immigration Judges’ by Stephanie Peng (University of California, Berkeley, US).

From left to right: Witold Klaus, Giulia Fabini, Cristina Güerri, Emmanuel Maravanyika, Dale Ballucci

In a different room of the venue, Emmanuel Maravanyika (Witwatersrand University, South Africa) made a presentation on ‘Practices of detention, containment and exclusion: Exclusionary practices against migrants in parole processes by the South African Department of Correctional Services’ and Dale Ballucci and Sam Ghebrai (Western University, Canada) presented their paper ‘Rationalizing Crimmigration: Examining Canada’s Use of Correctional Facilities as Immigration Holding Centres’ in session 5B. Also in this session, Giulia Fabini (University of Bologna, Italy) gave her talk titled ‘Innovations and continuities in immigration detention in Italy: the need for a diachronic, multi-sited and multi-scalar analysis’.

Andriani Fili

Witold Klaus

Immediately after lunch, session 6A brought together three additional papers: ‘Silences and complicities between state and non-state actors in the Greek immigration detention system’ by Andriani Fili (University of Oxford, UK), ‘Detention and its alleged alternatives in Poland’ by Witold Klaus (Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland) and ‘Sick economies: Scrutinizing change, malleability, and the enduring presence of U.S. immigration detention’ by Deirdre Conlon (University of Leeds, UK) and Nancy Hiemstra (Stony Brook University, US).

Session 6B

Simultaneously, in session 6B Simon Wallace (Osgoode Hall Law School, Canada) presented his paper titled ‘An empirical study of ‘danger to the public’ immigration detentions in Canada (summer 2021)’, Natalia Torres (University of Vigo, Spain) made a presentation on ‘Understanding crimmigration practices in Spain: “preventive internment” of immigrants as a manifestation of ius puniendi’, and Lorena Avila (Rutgers University, US) gave a talk on ‘Latino until proven innocent: The mark of criminal history in bond hearings in U.S. Immigration Courts’.

From left to right: Silvia Rodríguez-Lopez, Lauren Heidbrink

Finally, two additional panel sessions hosted the last presentations of the conference. Session 7A brought together papers presented by North American scholars: ‘From Detention to abolition: The care of unaccompanied children in the United States’ by Lauren Heidbrink (California State University, US), ‘”Where’s the Protection? Investigating the Potential for ‘Crimmigration’ of Refugee Children’ by Dale Ballucci (Western University, Canada) and ‘Zero-Tolerance at the U.S. Border: Understanding the Impact and Consequences of Family Separation’ by Mercedes Valadez (California State University, US).

From left to right: Giulia Fabini, Francesca Esposito, Lorena Rivas

In a different part of the venue, Francesca Esposito (Westminster University of London, UK; ‘Gendered Violence and Immigration Detention’), Lorena Rivas (Griffith University, Australia; ‘A Safe Haven? Women’s Experiences of Violence in Australian Immigration Detention’) and Sarah Turnbull (Waterloo University, Canada; ‘Reforming Immigration Detention in Canada and the United Kingdom: Learning from Critical Prison Studies and Abolitionist Perspectives’) presented their papers in session 7B.

From left to right: Cristina Fernández-Bessa, Ana Ballesteros

After three plenary lectures, fourteen panel sessions and forty two presentations, this two-day international conference was brought to a close by Carolina Sanchez Boe (Aarhus University, Denmark), who briefly presented her documentary film ‘Digital confinement’, and by the two academic chairs Ana Ballesteros and Cristina Fernández-Bessa (ECRIM) who focused their closing speech on future plans of collaborative research.