In 2014, 60,000 children and mothers fled Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, seeking refuge in the U.S. because of gang threats, domestic violence and child abuse in their countries. The Obama administration detained these families for months in prisonlike conditions, often denying them release on bond and inhibiting their ability to apply for political asylum.

On Thursday, April 16, panelists will discuss a national effort being organized by lawyers and activists to end this practice of family detention. “Precarious Lives: Central American Families and the Limits of U.S. Immigration Policy” will be held at 4:30 p.m. in Lewis Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall.

“The panelists will examine this national effort through a transnational feminist lens,” says Jane Juffer, director of undergraduate studies for the Feminist, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program (FGSS) in the College of Arts and Sciences. “It’s an effort to ensure that women and children refugees are allowed to exercise their internationally recognized rights to live free from violence and persecution.”

In addition to Juffer, panelists will include Virginia Raymond, an immigration lawyer and participant in the Karnes Pro-Bono Project in Austin, Texas, which represents women and children at the Karnes County Residential Center; and Cornell law students Yujin Chun and Carolyn Wald. Sital Kalantry will moderate the panel; she is a clinical professor of law at Cornell Law School, co-director of the Immigration Appellate Law and Advocacy Clinic, and co-founder of the Avon Global Center for Women and Justice.

A follow-up workshop to the panel discussion will be held Friday, April 17, at noon in 391 Uris Hall to discuss specific actions and organizing strategies for those interested in immigration policy activism. All are welcome; lunch will be served.

“Precarious Lives” is a project of FGSS and the Immigration Appellate Law and Advocacy Clinic of Cornell Law School.