Tell Me How Detention Abolition Begins: A Conversation with Azadeh Shahshahani

Azadeh Shahshahani is the Legal & Advocacy Director at Project South, and she has worked for a number of years to protect and defend immigrants and Muslim, Middle Eastern, and South Asian communities. She previously served as president of the National Lawyers Guild and as National Security/Immigrants’ Rights Project Director with the ACLU of Georgia. She is the author or editor of several human rights reports, as well as law review articles and book chapters focused on racial profiling, immigrants’ rights, and the surveillance of Muslim-Americans. Azadeh is the recipient of numerous awards including the Shanara M. Gilbert Human Rights Award from the Society of American Law Teachers, the Emory Law School Outstanding Leadership in the Public Interest Award, and more. Please view her full bio at projectsouth.org. 

Azadeh presented on the history and current status of immigration detention centers in Georgia as well as Project South's work to end immigration detention in the state. She then engaged in a conversation with two Creative Inquiry team members, Cierra Oliveira and Hannah Roebuck, to explore the question ”How does detention abolition begin?” before taking questions from the audience.

Azadeh is a leader in intersectional coalition building and community-centered activism. Please enjoy hearing and learning from her in the recording above.