Tech Profiling, Policing And Disruption of ‘Sanctuary Cities’

Free & Open to the Public / ADA Accessible

A Conversation and Strategy Session with:
-Lara Kiswani, Executive Director, Arab Resource Organizing Center
-Christina Sinha, National Security and Civil Rights Program Co-Leader, Asian Law Caucus,
-Cat Brooks, Executive Director, Justice Teams Network & Co-Founder Anti-Police Terror Project
-Stephanie Lacambra, Attorney and Legal Analyst with Electronic Frontier Foundation
-Juan Prieto, Immigrant Rights Organizer / Statewide Communications Strategist, CIYJA
-facilitated by Leslie Dreyer, organizer with Housing Rights Committee and Artist in Residence with the UC ACES Program

Technologies coming out of the Bay Area are being used to surveil, profile, police and even deport vulnerable residents in our so-called Sanctuary Cities. Platforms claiming to promote democracy have corrupted it and recentralized power, while silencing dissent of targeted communities. Social media, license plate readers, facial recognition and AI are aiding local police, ICE, the Pentagon and beyond, and the most terrifying and distopian applications yet to be approved for use by our government get shipped abroad impacting the privacy and lives of international communities.

Combining analysis by legal experts and on-the-ground organizers, we’ll explore the following questions: What cross-movement strategies can we employ to keep undocumented folks and targeted communities safe? How can we pressure politicians who advance policies that threaten vulnerable residents, including immigrants of color, to work toward those that bring about real sanctuary? And how can we leverage our proximity to Bay Area-based tech surveillance behemoths to demand justice for those most impacted locally and abroad?

*Cosponsored by UC Berkeley’s American Cultures Engaged Scholarship Program, Housing Rights Committee of SF,
Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society and the Arts and Design Initiative