2022 Research & Policy Teams

Our third cohort of interdisciplinary Research & Policy Teams have been formed and funded. Please read about them below.

1) Racialized Harms of Mass and Prolonged Detention of Immigrants

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) detains more than 250,000 people each year–some for days, and some for years–in a network of over 200 jails and prisons across the United States. This project seeks to examine the racialized harms of mass and prolonged detention of immigrants through analyzing government data on the length, scale, and demographics of immigration detention for the past several years. We are requesting this data through the Freedom of Information Act from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the primary federal agency responsible for detention and deportation. The interdisciplinary team of community advocates, journalists, data scientists, and communications specialists will work together to share findings from this analysis that contribute to the national conversation about immigration detention.

Understanding immigration detention as part of larger interlocking systems of social control and systemic racism, co-principal investigators and advocacy partner Black Alliance for Just Immigration will deploy the team’s findings in advocacy for migrant and racial justice. Through data analysis that examines the racialized impacts of this vast but hidden carceral system, they aim to provide additional evidence supporting movement efforts to reduce the carceral footprint of immigration detention.

Meet the Team:

2) Policy and Education for Racial Healing in Florida

The working hypothesis of Policy and Education for Racial Healing in Florida is that telling the history of racial trauma within communities in which that trauma is most legible is a mode of healing, but only when coupled with a political vision for change. The concept of the project is to combine re-telling these histories, providing the policy and historical context for personal stories in a way that motivates political change, and providing a concrete path toward political change through legislative work. 

We are confident that racial healing is best approached by coupling it with political action, and that political action is best done on a firm ground of research into policy impacts. 

Given the state’s history, it will take bold measures to ensure equal protection under the law for all Florida citizens in accordance with their constitutional rights. By utilizing an advocacy coalition framework, the Street Philosophy Institute will lay the groundwork for significant changes in Florida policy, while engaging various art forms to educate Floridians about race-based violence and its devastating impact on society.

Meet the Team: