Detained in Obscurity

Here is an article on immigrant detention (Detained in Obscurity) in the NACLA Report on the Americas by Professor David Manuel Hernández (Mount Holyoke College).  Download Detained in Obscurity NACLA.  The article concludes:

“Obscurity is a deliberate strategy of thedetentionregime,oftenwithgraveresultsfordetainees.Thesystemnaturalizesproductivetoolofenforcementthatiselastic,readytobere-tooled,rearticulated,andre-deployedfornewmigrantstreams.criminalityinasystemthatistechnicallynoncriminal,andthusinoculatesthedetentionregimefromparallelcritiquesofthecriminaljusticesystem.Ultimatelyobscurity,ambiguity,andremotenessmakedetentionarobustandflexibleenforcementpowercontrollingimmigrantsenteringoralreadywithintheUnitedStates.Thisflexibilitypermitscollusionwithothergovernmentandcorporateagendas,suchasmanaginglabor,fightingcrimeandterrorism,andproducingpoliticalcurrencyforpoliticians.

DespitethestaggeringgrowthandefficiencyofObama’sdetentionanddeponationmachine,detaineesremainjailedinobscurity,andarepopularlydescribedasnameless,faceless”illegals.”Theincreasingsizeofthedetentionregimegrowsbureaucracies,createsprofitsandrevenuesforsurrogatejailers,andlegitimizesthesecuritystate.Becausedetentiondrawssupponfrompoliticiansonbothsidesofaisle,it’s a productivetoolofenforcementthatiselastic,readytobere-tooled,rearticulated,andre-deployedfornewmigrantstreams.”

KJ