Live From Denver: Family Detention

LtoR: Graybill, Rehms, Lichter

This afternoon’s panel on family detention started with a screening of Grassroots Leadership’s “No Sanctuary: Big Business and Family Detention“. And then we heard from three very passionate advocates: Lisa Graybill (DU prof), Laura Lichter (former AILA President), and Jessica Rehms (DU law student).

Graybill talked about the connections between family migration and crimmigration. Her point: migrant women and children are being treated like criminals by virtue of their detention. And they are an “enormously profitable” population for the private prison companies who rule their lives given how “easily manageable” and non-savvy they were.

Laura Lichter spoke about the role of volunteer lawyers to help and defend the women and children in detention. She challenged the room to read the blogs and videos of volunteers at Artesia and not suffer from “sweaty eyeballs” when doing so, which I myself suffered from just listening to the few ARtesia stories she and Rehms told.

I’ll end this post with Graybill’s impassioned plea that law students and law professors can make a difference with volunteering at family detention facilities. It may be messy, but it will build skills and change lives.

-KitJ