Nearly three decades ago, a group of Cuban refugees from the Mariel boatlift took over a federal prison in Talladega, Alabama. The uprising lasted 11 days. Photos from the riot caught the attention of reporters Andrew Beck Grace and Chip Brantley, who would later feature the event in their NPR podcast White Lies. On Monday, Feb. 27, the Bill Cosford Cinema at the University of Miami hosted a conversation with Grace and Brantley, along with several other panelists, highlighting stories from the Mariel Boatlift and the Talladega prison riot that have long remained untold.
The amount of Haitians held in immigration detention skyrockets and the federal government starts holding them in federal prisons. Facing accusations of racism inside and outside the courts, the Reagan Administration decided to make a drastic policy shift: instead of treating Haitians like everyone else, it would now treat everyone else like Haitians.
Episode 4 of Detention By Design looks at the 1980 event that came to be known as the Mariel Boatlift and the turning point it marked for the U.S. immigration detention system. As 125,000 Cuban refugees landed in Florida, most spent only a day or two in a processing center - while Haitians were held for much longer. The lessons learned by the federal government during this often chaotic time would shape the years that followed.
Masters of Deceit: The Government s Propaganda of Fear, Mind Control & Brain Warfare lewrockwell.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lewrockwell.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.