deportation, migration, and human rights: interdisciplinary theory & practice · 2019-04-04 ·...

Deportation, Migration, and Human Rights:Interdisciplinary Theory & PracticeA working conference hosted by the Post-DeportationHuman Rights Project

The Center’s Post-Deportation Human Rights Project (PDHRP) hostedan interdisciplinary working conference entitled Deportation, Migration,and Human Rights: Interdisciplinary Theory and Practice from March18-20, 2010. The PDHRP, led by Center associate directors, DanielKanstroom and M. Brinton Lykes, aims to address the problem of unjustand harsh deportations from the United States. The project provideslegal services to immigrants who have been wrongfully deported andadvocates for their rights and those of their families through research,policy analysis, outreach, and training programs.

The conference brought together more than 30 scholars, communityorganizers, and practitioners from the fields of law, psychology,anthropology, education, social work, and immigrants’ rights. Together,the participants addressed problems faced by immigrants as a result ofthe deportation system in the United States.

The conference opened on March 18 with keynote addresses by Mr. AliNoorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, andDr. Dora Schriro, the commissioner of the New York City Departmentof Correction and the former director of the Office of Detention Policyand Planning for the Department of Homeland Security. Noorani spokeabout the policies of immigration in the United States and the changesthat are currently underway in Washington DC. He spoke with hope,noting recent progress in immigration reform and ended by statingthat the fights for immigrant rights must continue because “immigrationreform is in the interest of America.”

Volume 4 | Issue 1 | Fall 2010

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ABOUT US

The Center for Human Rights and International Justice addressesthe increasingly interdisciplinary needs of human rights workthrough academic programs, applied research, and the interactionof scholars with practitioners. The Center’s director is DavidHollenbach, SJ, University Chair in Human Rights andInternational Justice. Associate directors are Law School professorDaniel Kanstroom, and Lynch School professor of Community-Cultural Psychology M. Brinton Lykes. Ms. Anjani Datla is theassistant director.

Contributors: Mr. Eric Carroll, Ms. Christine Glaser, Ms. EricaMeninno, Ms. Kaki Stamateris

www.bc.edu/humanrights

Photos Courtesy Chris Soldt

Carol CohnDr. Carol Cohn, director of the Consortium onGender, Security, and Human Rights spoke at theCenter’s Conversations at Lunch event on January28, 2010. Cohn is a leader in the scholarlycommunity on gender and security. Her researchfocuses on the gender dimensions of armedconflicts and gender mainstreaming ininternational peace and security institutions.

Cohn’s presentation began with a discussion ofthe United Nations Security Council Resolutions1325 and 1820, two groundbreaking resolutionspassed in 2000 and 2008, respectively, that highlightthe importance of protecting women and girlsduring armed conflict, identify sexual violence as

a weapon of war, and underscore the need to increase women’s participation in post-conflict peaceagreements, peacekeeping efforts, and UN negotiations. Cohn pointed out that these resolutions havebeen integral to the introduction of gender issues in peace and security negotiations, as they containcrucial recognitions made by the UN Security Council to which they can be held accountable.

Cohn went on to explain that while these resolutions were helpful, a lack of research surrounding thegender implications of peace and security issues has provided little precedent for future action. In responseto this need, Cohn at the University of Massachusetts, in collaboration with four other universities (theFletcher School of Diplomacy, the Kennedy School of Government, Wellesley College, and the SimmonsSchool of Management), founded the Consortium on Gender, Security, and Human Rights aimed atraising awareness about gender, armed conflict, and security through research, conferences, and workshops.The Consortium works to build bridges between field research and the policy community in order toaddress the needs of women’s organizations and to ensure that new policies reflect their concerns.

Chris JochnickOn March 26, 2010 the Centerwelcomed Mr. Chris Jochnick tospeak at its final Conversations atLunch event of the 2009-2010academic year. Jochnick is thedirector of the Private SectorDepartment at Oxfam America, aswell as the coordinator of thePrivate Sector Team at OxfamInternational. He is the founder ofthe Center for Economic and SocialRights in New York and the Centrode Derechos Económicos y Socialesin Ecuador. Jochnick has extensiveexperience working on issues ofhuman rights and corporate

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Conversations at Lunch

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Each semester the Center hosts luncheon conversations with leading human rights scholars and practitioners.Visit http://www.bc.edu/humanrights/ for more.

Center for Human Rights and International Justice | Fall 2010

accountability and teaches business and humanrights at Harvard Law School.

Jochnick’s talk centered on the intersection ofhuman rights and business in recent history.He noted the general absence of “economicrights” from mainstream human rightsdialogue. He linked this trend to the formerbelief that governments would remain equippedto respond adequately to any human rightsabuse. This proved false however, with thetransformation of the world economy in the1960s and 70s when the private sector rapidlyturned into a powerful force in the form ofgiant multinational enterprises. “After this shift,governments were effectively placed on the

defensive,” Jochnick elaborated. Private businesses began asserting corporate power over thirdworld countries and committing multiple human rights violations. This caused NGOs and localhuman rights communities to push back against unfair corporate activity and highlighted theneed for global human rights dialogue.

After several companies began receiving bad press for such violations, shareholders expressedconcern for human rights and the importance of socially responsible investment grew. Codesof conduct and multi-stake holder initiatives appeared in the private sector yet were heavilycritiqued for their lack of legal responsibility. Consequently, Dr. John Ruggie, professor ofinternational affairs at Harvard University and the Special Representative of the United NationsSecretary-General for Business and Human rights, submitted a report in 2008, entitled Protect,Respect and Remedy: a Framework for Business and Human Rights, which addressed theoversight gap between government power, international law, and the business sector. Despitethe report, Jochnick indicated that human rights policies are still a novelty in the private sectorand that companies must be continuously pressured to ensure that they are not violating therights of the communities they inhabit.

Schriro spoke next about the state of corrections for migrants who havebeen deported. She emphasized the need for change within theimmigration system. Currently, after an arrest, a migrant is held byUnited States Immigration and Customs Enforcement for an averageof thirty days. Schriro seeks to change this policy in her role as thehead of Corrections in New York. In closing, Schriro avowed that “thereare many things that can be done, and we need to make these changes.”

The conference opening also featured a showing of the documentary,abUSed: The Postville Raid, which tells the story of one of the largestImmigration and Customs Enforcement raids in the history of the US.

The film puts a human face to the issue of deportation policy by weaving together the interviews ofdeportees and their families. After the screening, the filmmaker, Mr. Luis Argueta, talked about the on-going situation in Postville, Iowa. “Individuals were left humiliated, families were torn apart, and acommunity of great diversity was left in ruin,” he said. “The documentary serves as a cautionary taleagainst abuses of constitutional human rights,” Argueta stated. “Postville was a wake up call to us all,and a blatant call for the need for reform.” For more on the conference visit:http://www.bc.edu/centers/humanrights/projects/deportation.html.

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Flying KitesOn March 10, 2010, the Center in collaboration with the Volunteerand Service Learning Center presented a film screening of Flying Kites:Chasing Childhood. This award winning documentary was made byFlying Kites: MyTurn, a non-profit organization and student-ledmovement working with orphaned children in Kenya. The film followsthe students as they uncover the enormous obstacles preventingmeaningful change in the lives of children living in an orphanage inNairobi, Kenya. Following the documentary screening, Ms. JuliannaMorrall, a recent Boston College graduate, gave a presentation outliningthe students’ activities since the documentary was filmed.

The Politics of Human RightsThe Department of Political Science Graduate Student Associationin collaboration with the Center and several other Boston Collegedepartments hosted the Politics of Human Rights conference fromMarch 11-12, 2010. The conference provided an opportunity for a multi-disciplinary conversation about human rights issues and focused onseveral topics including: foundations of human rights, the relationshipbetween human rights and cultural differences, and the role of thestate on questions of human rights.

The conference’s three keynote speakers were Professor Susan Shellof the Boston College Department of Political Science, ProfessorElizabeth Mayer from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School,and Sarah Sewall from the Harvard Kennedy School and Carr Center

for Human Rights Policy.

Center director, professor David Hollenbach, SJ responded to Shell’s keynotespeech and emphasized the responsibility to protect, states’ rights as duties, aswell as the validity of a person’s rights beyond national borders. Professor IntisarRabb from the Boston College Law School responded to Mayer’s address andhighlighted issues of the dynamic meaning of Islamic law and its openness tore-interpretation. The conference closed with a stimulating discussion betweenSewall and professor Ward Thomas from Holy Cross University, on issues ofhuman rights, ethics, and the use of force.

Contextualizing the Crisis in HaitiOn February 15, 2010 the Center and the African and African DiasporaStudies Program welcomed professors Marc Prou and Erica CapleJames to discuss the implications of the earthquake in Haiti. Prou,associate professor and chair of the African Studies Department anddirector of the Haitian Institute at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, focused on the sweeping effects of the disaster. He claimedthat Haiti has experienced its second revolution, this time a “natural”one. Prou asserted that Haiti has a chance of establishing an effectivegovernment and a social contract, something it was unable to do in1804. James, associate professor of Anthropology at MIT, stressed theneed for more effective relief administration. She also warned thatequal dispersal of relief must be a priority. The African and AfricanDiaspora Studies Program’s Focus on Haiti initiative will resume in

fall 2010 with more events addressing these themes.

Jesuit University Humanitarian Action Network

The Jesuit University Humanitarian ActionNetwork (JUHAN) held its second biennialconference at Georgetown University from June 4-6,2010. JUHAN is a partnership of faculty, staff, andstudents at Jesuit universities and colleges in the UnitedStates. The network raises awareness on Jesuit campusesabout humanitarian response and what it means to be“men and women for others.” The conference gatheredundergraduate students and faculty from 28 Jesuituniversities for an intensive immersion program intoall facets of humanitarian emergencies. The BostonCollege student delegation of 11 undergraduatesincluded Nick Aigner, Megan Krakowiak, Anne Libera,Max McGuire, Alison Miller, Megan Monahan, PatrickMulkern, Megan Perez, Amanda Rothschild, ChristinaWartski, and David Willner.

The students attended plenary addresses in themornings including one by Center director, DavidHollenbach, SJ on “Ethics and the Rights of Refugees:A Jesuit’s Perspective.” In the afternoons, participantsbroke into working groups to learn about issues suchas climate change, aid camp logistics, trauma, health,and vulnerable populations. At the end of the conference,each university’s student delegation designed “actionplans” to help address and prevent humanitarian crisesin the future. The Boston College delegation will returnto campus in fall 2010 and work on a three-pronged

approach akin to that at other Jesuit university campusesacross the country. The students will conduct research,engage in service, and advocate for the rights of thoseaffected by humanitarian crises around the world.

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Photos Courtesy Paulina Maldonado


The Center’s Participatory Action ResearchProject in Post-Katrina New Orleans has createda photo and story exhibit which is a culminationof more than two years of work. Center associatedirector, professor M. Brinton Lykes whocoordinates the project and visiting scholar, Ms.Holly Scheib, Ph.D. candidate in theInternational Health and DevelopmentDepartment at Tulane School of Public Health,were involved in the creation of the exhibit incollaboration with two local NGOs, KingsleyHouse and the Latino Health Access Group.

This Participatory Action Research (PAR) projectengaged a team of stakeholders in post-KatrinaNew Orleans to tell their stories and share theirexperiences as well as those of their communityby doing their own research. As Scheib describes,“it doesn’t take a Ph.D. to do research. We do

research in our everyday lives. The idea is to letthose who previously had no voice do thetalking.” One of the research strategies used inthis project incorporated resources fromPhotoVoice, a method developed by professorsCarolyn Wang and Mary Ann Burris when theyprovided illiterate farmers in rural China withcameras to document their lives and share theirstories along with their photos. In Central City,New Orleans, where poverty related violent crimeis very high, African American and Latinacommunity-based health workers became activeresearchers when they participated in the projectusing a participatory research process thatcombined PhotoVoice as well as “talkingpictures”, a resource developed by Chileananthropologist Ximena Bunster. The healthworkers took pictures over a period of eightmonths and often regrouped during that time

Women’s PhotoVoices:Cross-community Dialogue and Organizing for Change

In both the African American and Latino communities there is a great needfor assistance after Hurricane Katrina. The Walkers-Talkers and Promotoras strive to link familiesto services and resources to meet their needs of the many low-income communities.

We complete health assessments to identify the services and resources that are needed andassist with Medicaid and Food Stamp applications. The pictures in the next poster highlight theimportance of having a community outreach model where people from the community areworking with their own communities. This process works due to trust, shared issues andconcerns, and because it fosters neighbors helping neighbors.

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in several two-day workshops facilitated byLykes and Scheib. The workshops providedthe forum to share the photos andindividually-authored stories about thepictures, re-analyze them, and create acollective narrative by putting the photographsand stories together. The result is an eight-piece, mobile photo and story exhibit whichhas been on display and presented at theCrescent City Farmers Market, Katrina@5:Partners in Philanthropy Conference, KingsleyHouse 2010 Annual Meeting, 2010 UnityConference organized by the Center forSustainable Health Outreach, and PuentesKatrina Conference for the fifth anniversaryof Hurricane Katrina. The work will bepresented at the Institute for the Study andPromotion of Race and Culture conferencethis fall at Boston College.

One goal of the project has been to analyzeand then showcase similarities and differencesbetween the Latino and African-Americancommunities in New Orleans and to profilethe work of the health outreach workers inrebuilding the community after HurricaneKatrina. The PhotoVoice and participatoryresearch methodology has created a contextthrough which previously silenced voices ofmany in Central City can now be heard. Ithas also been a transformative experience forthe women participants, empowering themto better articulate their work as healthpromoters and exercise their leadership intheir own and each other’s communities. Theproject has received a lot of positive feedbackfrom both those involved and those who haveseen the photo and story exhibit. As Scheibconcludes, “This is how we make change.”

Women’s PhotoVoices:continued from page 6

SUMMER RESEARCHGRANTS

Each year the Center awards summerresearch grants to undergraduate andgraduate students conducting researchon important human rights issues. In2010 the Center was pleased to supportthe following students:

Ms. Sophia Moradian, undergraduatestudent majoring in InternationalStudies, will research the role of womenin microfinance in Jordan.

Ms. Amanda Rothschild, undergraduatestudent majoring in InternationalStudies, will explore why the GenevaConvention has failed to preventgenocide.

Ms. Rachel Hershberg, Ph.D. candidatein the Applied Developmental Psychologyprogram, will travel to Zacualpa,Guatemala to research new models oftransnational families.

Ms. Fatima Sattar, Ph.D. candidate inthe department of Sociology will conductresearch on immigrants’ integrationprocesses, concerns, and obstacles inBoston.

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140 Commonwealth AvenueChestnut Hill, MA 02467

Phone: 617.552.1968Email: [email protected]: www.bc.edu/humanrights

UPCOMING FALL 2010 EVENTS

September 24Conversations at lunch withMr. Michael Delaney, director ofhumanitarian response,Oxfam America12:30 p.m.Room 328, 21 Campanella Way,Boston College

September 28Adios AyacuchoPerformance by Peruvian TheaterTroupe Yuyachkani8:00 p.m.Bonn Studio, Robsham Theater,Boston College

November 3Natural Disasters & Human Rights:Comparing Responses to Haiti and PakistanDr. Elizabeth Ferris, co-director,Brookings-Bern ProjectThe Brookings Institute7:00 p.m.Murray Room, Yawkey Center,Boston College

November 5Conversations at Lunch withMs. Iris Gomez, staff attorney,Massachusetts Law Reform Institute12:30 p.m.Boston Room, Corcoran Common,Boston College


deportation, migration, and human rights: interdisciplinary theory & practice · 2019-04-04 ·...

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