Chapter 6

Behind Bars:

Immigration Detention and

Prison Life

Class Goals• Develop an understanding of how and why

incarceration and detention rates have soared.• Develop an understanding of the difference

between incarceration and detention.• Develop an understanding of the consequences of

mass incarceration and mass detention.

Population under correctional supervision, 1980-2009

The U.S. is exceptional

Detention rates have soared

How is the rise in mass incarceration tied to neoliberal

economic reforms?

What are some of the legal differences between incarceration

and detention?Prisons and Jails Detention

• Serving time or awaiting trial.

• Right to a bond hearing after 72 hours.

• Right to a lawyer, even if you can’t afford one.

• Awaiting immigration hearing or deportation.

• Right to a bond hearing after 6 months.

• No right to legal representation.

How different or similar are incarceration and detention?

Questions for Discussion

• What are some of the long-term effects of mass incarceration?

• How does hypermasculinity contribute to the dynamics of violence in prisons?

• How and why do some deportees experienced detention as punitive?

• How does mandatory detention pressure detainees to accept deportation orders?

Class Goals: RECAP• Develop an understanding of how and why

incarceration and detention rates have soared.• Develop an understanding of the difference

between incarceration and detention.• Develop an understanding of the consequences of

mass incarceration and mass detention.