Community Partners
States of Incarceration events were created with the purpose of expanding the conversation about detention while connecting people within our community. Here are the people who made this possible, both locally and nationally.
Judith Perera holds a Ph.D. in history from Arizona State University. She earned her J.D from Pepperdine Law School and is currently licensed to practice law in the state of California and through the Executive Office of Immigration Review. Her dissertation, "From Exclusion to State Violence: The Transformation of Noncitizen Detention in the United States and Its Implications in Arizona, 1891-present," analyzes the historical evolution of the modern noncitizen detention regime while highlighting the significance of understanding discrepancies between official detention policy and realities of noncitizen experiences in detention. Her work is inspired by her pro bono experience inside detention center courtrooms in Pinal County.
"We envision youth and children having access to transformative experiences where they are co-creating spaces of healing and are trained to become agents of change in their communities. Our hope at Aliento is to reshape the image of who immigrants are and shine light to the unheard voices of our society.
We imagine a world where healing and reconciliation is the norm, a world where everyone’s humanity is at the core and is the driving force, where we seek collective problem-solving when harm is done."
Dr. Julian Kunnie is Professor of Religious Studies/ Classics at the University of Arizona and author of The Cost of Globalization: Dangers to the Earth and Its People (McFarland, 2015)
Mark Dow's awareness of immigrant detention began in 1990 when he started teaching English at Miami's Krome Detention Center. Over the next decade, he visited jails and detention centers around the country and interviewed detainees, immigration officers, and prison wardens. During his talk on October 2nd, Dow reflected on the most significant surprises he encountered in writing American Gulag: that the system was even more brutal than many on the outside imagined; and that correctional officers were often the harshest critics of that system. He also discussed the accidents that led to writing this book--as well as the tensions we face today between optimism and realism.
Phoenix Restoration Project works with faith-based groups and people of conscience to build a network of mutual support with adults being detained and who have been released. Together, we are restoring our human community. Together we are weaving a sustainable lifeline of hope, solidarity, and tangible support through letters, visits, and by offering our hospitality to men, women, and youth just released from detention.
"Little by little. Poco a poco. We walk the way together. Becoming community. Honoring the dignity of all. Seeking to ultimately end mandatory detention of immigrants."
For more information on how you can be involved with the Restoration Project in Phoenix email us at phxrestorationproject@gmail.com or call 480-442-9634.
Transcend Arizona is a non-profit, grassroots group working to support the LGBT community in immigration detention centers and prisons.
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Transcend Arizona
1700 W Adams St
Phoenix, Arizona