Biography
C. L. R. James was a Trinidadian historian, Marxist theorist and anti-colonial organizer. U.S. immigration authorities confined him on Ellis Island in 1952 during the McCarthy era. He wrote Mariners, Renegades and Castaways during detention and was forced to leave the United States the following year. Accounts differ on the precise detention chronology, so this profile preserves year precision. James died in 1989. This historical immigration case predates ICE.
Case history and verification
C. L. R. James was a Trinidadian historian, Marxist theorist and anti-colonial organizer. U.S. immigration authorities confined him on Ellis Island in 1952 during the McCarthy era. He wrote Mariners, Renegades and Castaways during detention and was forced to leave the United States the following year. Accounts differ on the precise detention chronology, so this profile preserves year precision. James died in 1989. This historical immigration case predates ICE.
Status reviewed October 8, 2026: Historical case. The profile records the last documented outcome; no current ICE custody is asserted.
Sources
- UNESCO: C. L. R. James Collection nomination and detention chronology
- Brandeis University Press: author biography
Verified detail sources (October 9, 2026): Brandeis University Press’s author biography uses he/him for C. L. R. James, the historian and Marxist theorist. Existing birth-year and detention-year values are preserved because detention chronology requires further reconciliation. Source 1.
Photo source: Brandeis University Press author biography. Original image reproduced without alteration.
