Statistics at the Border: Migration, Detention, and US Law

• Activity Number: 151 - Statistics at the Border: Migration, Detention, and Assimilation
• Type: Invited
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 4, 2020 : 10:00 AM to 11:50 AM
• Sponsor: Committee on Scientific Freedom and Human Rights
• Author(s): Robin Mejia* and David K. Hausman* and Maureen Meyer* and Ariana Sawyer* and Joe Watkins*
• Companies: and Statistics and Human Rights Program Manager and Special Faculty and Washington Office on Latin America and Human Rights Watch and University of Arizona
• Keywords: immigration; migration; border; enforcement; humanitarian; law

Abstract

Immigration has always an important topic in the US. Now, increasing numbers of migrants at the UC southern border combined with changes in immigration policy have led to a humanitarian crisis. This panel will address the role statistics and statisticians play in addressing the crisis, in understanding what is actually happening at the border now as well as driving forces of migration, its impact on society, and whether US policy meets basic human rights standards. The panel will include a legal expert to address what US policy is now and what questions need to be answered. Panelists include: Joe Watkins, Professor of Applied Mathematics and Chair of the Interdisciplinary Program in Statistics, University of Arizona, who has worked with Amnesty International on reports on immigration enforcement in the Southwest. Brian Root, Senior Quantitative Analyst at Human Rights Watch, who analyzes US immigration data, including movements through the borders and through the detention system.