#ImmigrationDetentionSyllabus

Abbas al Aboudi, “Child in Detention,” pencil on paper. The Refugee Art Project

The **#ImmigrationDetentionSyllabus** is a sixteen-part series of readings and tools to support education, research, and action to dissect and dismantle the U.S. immigration detention system. The syllabus is organized by theme and curated by historian [Tina Shull](https://medium.com/u/6e34ba3479d9) at [Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC)](http://endisolation.org).

Part Five, “On Youth, Family, and LGBT Detention” provides readings, reports, and tools for understanding how immigration enforcement affects the experiences of women, children, and LGBTQI persons and for challenging family and LGBT detention.

https://www.vox.com/2018/6/11/17443198/children-immigrant-families-separated-parents

Readings

Sacrificing Families by Leisy J. Abrego

- Cairns, Kathleen. [*Hard Time at Tehachapi: California’s First Women’s Prison*](https://www.worldcat.org/title/hard-time-at-tehachapi-californias-first-womens-prison/oclc/276138938&referer=brief_results). University of New Mexico Press, 2009. - Canaday, Margot. [*The Straight State: Sexuality and Citizenship in Twentieth-Century America*](https://books.google.com/books?id=4Dkb6hSNDCEC&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false). Princeton University Press, 2009. - Chávez-García, Miroslava. [*States of Delinquency: Race and Science in the Making of California’s Juvenile Justice System*](https://www.worldcat.org/title/states-of-delinquency-race-and-science-in-the-making-of-californias-juvenile-justice-system/oclc/775302612&referer=brief_results). University of California Press, 2012. - Dreby, Joanna. [*Everyday Illegal: When Policies Undermine Immigrant Families*](https://books.google.com/books?id=JD19BgAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false). University of California Press, 2015. - Golash-Boza, Tanya and Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, “[Latino immigrant men and the deportation crisis: A gendered racial removal program.](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057%2Flst.2013.14)” *Latino Studies* vol. 11: 271–92. - Gonzales, Roberto G. [*Lives in Limbo: Undocumented and Coming of Age in America*](http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520287266)*. *University of California Press, 2015. - Haley, Sarah. [*No Mercy Here: Gender, Punishment, and the Making of Jim Crow Modernity*](https://www.worldcat.org/title/no-mercy-here-gender-punishment-and-the-making-of-jim-crow-modernity/oclc/939963318&referer=brief_results). University of North Carolina Press, 2016. - hooks, bell, “[Racism and Feminism: The Issue of Accountability](https://hamtramckfreeschool.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/hooks-bell-aint-i-a-woman-black-woman-and-feminism.pdf),” in *Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism*.**South End Press, 1981. - Libal, Bob, Lauren Martin, and Nicole Porter, “‘A Prison is Not a Home’: Notes from the Campaign to End Immigrant Family Detention,” in [*Beyond Walls and Cages: Prisons, Borders, and Global Crisis*](https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Walls-Cages-Geographies-Transformation/dp/0820344125/ref=sr_1_1%3Fs=books%26ie=UTF8%26qid=1502923438%26sr=1-1%26keywords=beyond+cages+and+walls). University of Georgia Press, 2012. - Lorde, Audre, “Age, Race, Class and Sex: Women Redefining Difference,” in [*Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought*](http://www.powells.com/partner/37407/biblio/9781565842564?p_isbn). Norton, 1995. - Loyd, Jenna, “Immigrant Justice from a Trans Perspective: An Interview with Gael Guevara, May 2009,” in [*Beyond Walls and Cages: Prisons, Borders, and Global Crisis*](https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Walls-Cages-Geographies-Transformation/dp/0820344125/ref=sr_1_1%3Fs=books%26ie=UTF8%26qid=1502923438%26sr=1-1%26keywords=beyond+cages+and+walls). University of Georgia Press, 2012.

Queer (In)Justice from Beacon Press

- Mogul, Joey, Andrea Ritchie, and Kay Whitlock, eds. [*Queer (In)Justice: The Criminalization of LGBT People in the United States*](https://www.worldcat.org/title/queer-injustice-the-criminalization-of-lgbt-people-in-the-united-states/oclc/630501317&referer=brief_results). Beacon Press, 2011. - Nazario, Sonia. [Enrique’s Journey: The Story of a Boy’s Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with his Mother](https://books.google.com/books?id=pMPklnWzVLwC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false). Random House, 2007. - Oparah, Julie. [“Feminism and the (Trans)Gender Entrapment of Gender Nonconforming Prisoners,”](http://escholarship.org/uc/item/3sp664r9#page-1)*UCLA Women’s Law Journal* 18 (2012) 239–71. - Pallares, Amalia. [Family Activism: Immigrant Struggles and the Politics of Noncitizenship](https://books.google.com/books?id=HfmqBAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false). Rutgers University Press, 2014. - Patler, Caitlin and Nicholas Branic, “Patterns of Family Visitation During Immigration Detention,” *RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences *3:4 (July 2017) 18–36. - Rosas, Ana Elizabeth, [*Abrazando el Espíritu: Bracero Families Confront the US- Mexico Border*](http://www.powells.com/partner/37407/biblio/9780520282674?p_isbn)*. *University of California Press, 2014. - Schriro, Dora, “[Obstacles to Reforming Family Detention in the United States](https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/obstacles-to-reforming-family-detention-in-the-united-states-global-detention-project-working-paper-no-20).” Global Detention Project Working Paper 20, January, 2017. - Stanley, Eric and Nat Smith, eds.[*Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex*](https://www.worldcat.org/title/captive-genders-trans-embodiment-and-the-prison-industrial-complex/oclc/669754832&referer=brief_results). AK Press, 2011.

Whose Child Am I? by Susan J. Terri0

- Terrio, Susan J.,**[*Whose Child Am I? Unaccompanied, Undocumented Children in U.S. Immigration Custody*](http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520281493)*. *University of California Press, 2015. - Wessler, Seth Freed and Julianne Hing, “Torn Apart: Struggling to Stay Together after Deportation,” in [*Beyond Walls and Cages: Prisons, Borders, and Global Crisis*](https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Walls-Cages-Geographies-Transformation/dp/0820344125/ref=sr_1_1%3Fs=books%26ie=UTF8%26qid=1502923438%26sr=1-1%26keywords=beyond+cages+and+walls). University of Georgia Press, 2012. - Zayas, Luis H. [*Forgotten Citizens: Deportation, Children, and the Making of American Exiles and Orphans*](https://books.google.com/books?id=GinaBgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false). Oxford University Press, 2015.

Reports

Immigration Detention: Children and Families, Immigration Series prepared for the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado by César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández:

Immigration Detention: Vulnerable Populations, Immigration Series prepared for the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado by César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández:

“I Still Need You”: The Detention and Deportation of Californian Parents, Human Rights Watch, May, 2017.

“Do You See How Much I’m Suffering Here?” Abuse Against Transgender Women in US Immigration Detention, Human Rights Watch, March 2016:

https://www.vox.com/2018/6/11/17443198/children-immigrant-families-separated-parents

LGBTI Persons in Immigration Detention: Position Paper, International Detention Coalition, 2016.

For-Profit Family Detention: Meet the Private Prison Companies Making Millions by Locking Up Refugee Families, Grassroots Leadership and Justice Strategies, October 2014.

Expose & Close: Artesia, Detention Watch Network, September 2014.

Detained and at Risk: Sexual Abuse and Harassment in US Immigration Detention, Human Rights Watch, August 2010. Español

Forced Apart: Families Separated and Immigrants Harmed by United States Deportation Policy, Human Rights Watch, July 2007.

Locking Up Family Values: The Detention of Immigrant Families, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, February 2007.

Borrowing Against the Future: The Impact of Prison Expansion on Arizona Families, Schools and Communities. Grassroots Leadership and Arizona Advocacy Network, April 2003.

Abbas al-Aboudi, “Child in Detention,” oil on canvas. The Refugee Art Project

### In the News

The Trump administration’s separation of families at the border, explained,” Vox, June 2018.

How They Defend the Indefensible,” Slate, June 2018.

Boy Detained 707 Days ‘Did a Little Dance’ When Ordered Released from ICE Custody,” Rewire, August 2017.

https://www.vox.com/2018/6/11/17443198/children-immigrant-families-separated-parents

Meet the Central American Women the US is Detaining and Deporting,” The Nation, 2016.

Why is the Obama Administration Keeping Toddlers Behind Bars?The Nation, 2016.

“Child Migrants’ Harrowing Journey Brought to Life on Stage,” NPR, 2016:

https://www.vox.com/2018/6/11/17443198/children-immigrant-families-separated-parents

Detaining Immigrant Families Was Always Wrong, and We’re Still Doing It,” The Hill, November 17, 2016.

Welcome to Dilley,” *New York Times, *2016:

https://www.vox.com/2018/6/11/17443198/children-immigrant-families-separated-parents

Advocates Are Worried About New Texas Facility’s Separate Housing for Transgender Detainees,” NPR, 2016.

Meet the first gay couple to get married inside an immigration detention center,” Fusion, 2016.

“Trans Latina immigrant detained in a men’s prison to be featured in new HBO documentary,” Fusion, 2016:

“These asylum seekers are being forced to raise their kids in immigration ‘jails,’”*PRI, *2016.

She fled abuse in Mexico, and now this trans woman says she was abused in immigration detention too,” PRI, 2016.

What’s Next For Immigrant Families in Federal Detention?”New Yorker, 2015.

The government knows LGBTQ immigrants are often raped in detention. It puts them there anyway,” *Vox, *2015.

Transgender Immigrants Still Face Rampant Physical and Sexual Abuse in U.S. Immigration Detention Centers,” VICE, 2015.

9 ways detaining immigrant families is turning into a ‘shitshow,’” *Vox, *2014.

Transgender Woman Says Immigration Detention Officials Told Her To Pretend Her Rape Was Consensual,” Think Progress, 2014.

Left: Fidencio Martinez; Right: Francis Mead. CultureStrike “Visions from Inside” 2015

### Films and Podcasts

Crossing Over: Stories of Immigration and Identity:

https://www.vox.com/2018/6/11/17443198/children-immigrant-families-separated-parents

Transgression (2011):

Queering Immigration Podcast

Blogs

Youth Circulations:

https://www.vox.com/2018/6/11/17443198/children-immigrant-families-separated-parents

Histories of Sexuality and the Carceral State

“Gender Violence and the Prison Industrial Complex,” Critical Resistance and INCITE!, 2001.

Children of Incarcerated Parents Blog

Art, Literature, Zines

https://www.vox.com/2018/6/11/17443198/children-immigrant-families-separated-parents

Child Detention Stories by CIVIC:

https://www.vox.com/2018/6/11/17443198/children-immigrant-families-separated-parents

“Visions from the Inside” Illustrates the Courageous Stories of Detained Migrants at the Karnes Detention Center, CultureStrike, 2015.

The Unforgotten Coat*, *by Frank Cottrell Boyce

https://www.vox.com/2018/6/11/17443198/children-immigrant-families-separated-parents

Cristina Henríquez, “Everything is Far From HereNew Yorker, 2017*:*

https://www.vox.com/2018/6/11/17443198/children-immigrant-families-separated-parents
https://www.vox.com/2018/6/11/17443198/children-immigrant-families-separated-parents

Natalie Scenters-Zapico, The Verging Cities

Javier Zamora, Unaccompanied

Lockdown: prison, repression and gender nonconformity Zine

Prison Abolition is a Queer issue:

https://www.prisonabolition.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/JusticeNow_prison_abolition_queer_issue.pdf