After over half a century of rising incarceration rates, that tide appears to be slowly turning as a decarceration trend moves across the United States. However, this may not lead to the end or even reduction of our geography and architecture of human confinement. The case of Louisiana allows us to see how immigration detention may allow the carceral state to perpetuate and reinvent itself.  This talk will describe the interrelationship between decarceration and immigrant detention and point to the evidence of a singular political economy between these institutions.

Pedro Gerson's research focuses on the intersection of criminal and immigration law. Prior to joining the Pozen Center, Professor Gerson was an Associate Professor of Law at California Western School of Law and previously he directed the Louisiana State University Immigration Clinic. Before joining the LSU Law Center faculty, Professor Gerson served as an immigration staff attorney at The Bronx Defenders in New York City, a public defender nonprofit.

Professor Gerson previously held several positions in Mexico City, including as a researcher and project manager at the Instituto Mexicano para la Competitividad (IMCO), a think tank. He also worked in government, in the National Digital Strategy Unit of the Office of the President of Mexico. While in Mexico, Gerson was an adjunct professor in the economics and law departments at Instituto Tecnológico Autónoma de México and Universidad Iberoamericana.

Professor Gerson earned a JD/MPP from the University of Chicago. 

This event is sponsored by the University of Chicago Law School's International Programs, Human Rights Law Society and International Law Society.

Lunch will be provided. Please submit dietary requests eight business days prior to the program to Aican Nguyen at aican@uchicago.edu. Although we will try to accommodate dietary needs, it is not guaranteed.