Abolish ICE? Virtual Conference

September 21 – 23, 2021

What is at stake when people call to transform the immigration enforcement system? In recent years, immigration enforcement has been gaining increasing attention from the media, policy-makers, scholars, and the general public. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the fundamental machinery within the Department of Homeland Security in charge of enforcing immigration laws in the interior of the country and investigating international criminal operations and organizations. However, ICE has been faced with accusations of human rights abuses in detention centers, conducting brutal long-term family separations, enforcing zero tolerance policies and racial profiling, along with a lack of accountability and oversight, and the waste and mismanagement of its funding resources. The accruing impact of negative attention has framed ICE as the toxic face of the immigration system, and has inspired a spectrum of responses to transform it. 

Speculation on how to create change within the immigration system going forward has been a center of attention in recent months. With this in mind, the Zolberg Institute for Migration and Mobility is launching a conversation between migrant activists, academics, and policy-makers. This conference will seek to disentangle ICE as a product of a complex patchwork of legislation, policies, statutes, and guidelines. Our work will lay out the counter-movements that have been created in response to ICE, and seek to generate new ideas to respond to the urgent call for a meaningful transformation of immigration enforcement in the US.

We will host three panels and three roundtables (one on each day: September 21, September 22 and September 23). To view and register, select each panel individually. 

Hosted by the Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility at The New School for Social Research.

Webinars begin at 10:00am EST unless otherwise noted.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21; 10:00-11:30AM EST

MEANINGFULLY TRANSFORMING THE IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT SYSTEM

Panelists will discuss their views on the different changes that are needed to meaningfully transform the Immigration Enforcement System.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22; 10:00-11:30AM EST

IMAGING A POST-ICE IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT SYSTEM

Panelists will discuss their views on post-ICE immigration enforcement.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23; 4:00-5:30PM EST

UP-ENDING ENFORCEMENT TO IMPACT IMMIGRATION SYSTEM REFORM

Panelists will discuss how up-ending enforcement could impact reforming the immigration system.