NYU Migration Network: Detention and Deportation Conference

Wednesday, October 15, 2025 | 9:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (EDT)
Main Event Space, NYU Wagner (105 E 17th St), New York, NY

Join us for a full-day conference exploring detention and deportation from multiple angles—past, present, and future. Through four panels with scholars, journalists, policy experts, and activists, we’ll examine how these practices shape U.S. politics and immigration policy, from the historical roots of detention to the latest technologies of enforcement, and the on-the-ground organizing happening in New York City today.

Panel #1: The Politics and Policy Under Trump 2

10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m. (EDIT)

This panel sets the stage for a discussion of detention and deportation in the context of today’s politics and policies. Together, the panelists will help us make sense of the impact of this administration’s policies on the lives of immigrants and the way that a politics of detention and deportation is reshaping the United States of America.

Featured Panelists:

• Adam Cox (New York University)
• Muzaffar Chishti (Migration Policy Institute)
• Tanya Greene (Human Rights Watch)
• Miriam Jordan (New York Times)

Moderated by Natasha Iskander

Panel #2: On Detention, Deportation, and Asylum’s Afterlives

12:15 p.m.–1:15 p.m.

This keynote discussion will situate this unprecedented moment in the context of the contemporary history and geography of detention and deportation in immigration enforcement.

Featured Keynote Speaker:

• Alison Mountz (University of Toronto)

Moderated by Radha S. Hegde

Panel #3: Technologies 

1:30 p.m.–3:00 p.m.

This panel focuses on the technologies and infrastructure of detention and deportation, from digital surveillance to the bureaucratic structure of ICE, to the financial institutions embedded in the business of detention.

Featured Panelists:

• Kimberly Morgan (George Washington University)
• Matthew Guariglia (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
• Nancy Hiemstra (Stony Brook University)
• William Turton (Propublica)

Moderated by Aisha Khan

Panel #4: Activism in NYC

3:15 p.m.–4:00 p.m.

This panel brings together activist organizations and student groups to discuss the work that they are doing on the ground to support New Yorkers who are vulnerable to detention and deportation. The discussion will include a know-your-rights training.

Featured Panelists:

• Emary Aronson (Robinhood)
• Jairo Guzman (The Mexican Coalition)