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The hidden history of US immigration detention

Historian Brianna Nofil explores the historical factors that have shaped the world’s largest system of migrant incarceration

• Elinor Evans

Published: January 14, 2026 at 8:00 AM

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The roots of immigration detention in the US stretch back over a century. Speaking to Elinor Evans, historian Brianna Nofil explores how the US built a vast migrant detention regime. From jailing Chinese migrants in 1900s upstate New York to the private prison boom of the 1980s and beyond, she explores why detention remains a defining and deeply contested feature of American immigration policy.

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Authors

Elinor EvansHead of digital (web and video)

Elinor Evans is head of digital (web and video)

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