Join the Center for Constitutional Rights and our partners Muslim Counterpublics Lab, Amnesty International, and National Immigrant Justice Center, on Wednesday, January 15, 1 - 2:30 p.m. EST, for Migrants and Muslims at Guantánamo: A History of Demonization, Social Control, and Resistance. Moderated by Center for Constitutional Rights Advocacy Director Nadia Ben-Youssef, this virtual panel will explore Guantánamo’s cruel and evolving history. 

January 11, 2025 will mark 23 years since the Guantánamo Bay prison was repurposed to house hundreds of Muslim men and boys captured in the “War on Terror.” The prison serves as an emblematic example of institutionalized Islamophobia. But Guantánamo today is but the most recent iteration of the U.S. government’s ongoing vilification and incarceration of marginalized communities.

This panel will explore Guantánamo’s legacy and initial use in the 1990s to house Cuban and Haitian refugees and asylum seekers. Panelists will discuss how the prison’s entrenched image – that it houses the “worst of the worst” – justifies its continued existence and evolution. The panel will also address Guantánamo as part of the U.S. carceral state beyond domestic borders. Finally, the panelists will speak to how we can unify our collective resistance and advocacy efforts to: 1) ensure the closure of the prison and the Migrant Operations Center, and 2)  protect all of our communities from the brutality that Guantánamo represents.  

Panelists:

• Mansoor Adayfi, Author, Advocate and Guantánamo survivor
• Erik Crew, Haitian Bridge Alliance
• Dr Maha Hilal, Muslim Counterpublics Lab
• Jesse Franzblau, National Immigrant Justice Center
• Nadia Ben-Youssef, Center for Constitutional Rights (moderator)

ASL translation and live transcription will be provided for this event. This event is free, but registration is required.