Deportation Inc.: Investigating the Business of Migrant Detention

Gauri Bahuguna is a computational designer and researcher based in New York. As Deputy Director at SITU Research, Bahuguna makes complex human rights cases accessible to wider audiences by wrangling large and diverse datasets into visually compelling interactive web platforms or videos. Projects she has led include an investigation on human rights violations against protesters in Sudan and ISIL’s crimes against humanity in Iraq, and Deportation Inc., which examines the border industrial complex. Additionally, Bahuguna has taught at the Cooper Union School of Art and has given lectures at Carnegie Mellon, NYU, and The New School.

Eileen Grench writes about immigration enforcement for Documented. Previously, she covered the impact of the criminal justice and immigration systems on communities in New York City, Houston, and beyond. Grench also worked as an investigative reporting fellow at the Global Migration Project, where she reported for outlets such as The New Yorker, The Intercept, The Nation, and Documented. She was a 2021 Livingston Award finalist for her coverage of inequities in child welfare, and won the Newswomen’s Club of New York Front Page Award in Local Investigative Reporting. Grench graduated from Columbia University School of Journalism and is also an Olympic fencer representing Panamá.

Elora Mukherjee is a globally recognized advocate for immigrants, asylum seekers, and unaccompanied children, and the director of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School. Since founding the clinic in 2014, she has led efforts on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, including representing detained mothers and children in Texas. For over a decade, she has worked to enforce the Flores Settlement protections for migrant children. Her 2019 reports on inhumane detention conditions drew national outrage and led to congressional testimony. A former ACLU attorney, Mukherjee continues to advance immigrants’ rights through litigation, advocacy, and public engagement.

Brad Samuels is the founding Director of SITU Research, a visual investigations practice merging data and design to create new pathways for justice. His work is focused on the intersection of design, human rights, and technology. Samuels has overseen SITU’s investigations for the United Nations, the International Criminal Court, Human Rights Watch, The AP, and many other advocacy and journalism organizations. SITU’s work has received broad recognition, including awards from Scripps Howard, AIANY, and nominations for Emmy and Peabody awards. Samuels has served on the Technology Advisory Board of the ICC and currently serves on the board of The Architectural League of New York. He teaches in the Thesis studio at the Cooper Union School of Architecture.

Tyler McBrien is managing editor of Lawfare and the editorial publishing partner for the Deportation Inc. project. He previously worked as an editor at the Council on Foreign Relations and served as a Princeton in Africa Fellow with Equal Education in South Africa. He holds an master’s of arts in international relations from the University of Chicago.