Borderline Injustice: Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice at the US-Mexico Border

The US-Mexico border has been a point of political contention in recent years given the militarization of the border, the building of the border wall, and the structural and physical violence that occurs at these sites of political exclusion. This research explores the integral nexus of citizenship, migration and border theories, human rights, and critical feminist theories in contextualizing the gendered violence and reproductive oppression occurring against migrants at the US-Mexico border and in detention. This research engages with the framework of reproductive justice (the intersection of reproductive rights and social justice) to name the reproductive abuses occurring against migrants in the region, as well as to explore strategies being used to challenge them, including advocacy, collective action, and community organizing. These abuses including United States policies, such as family separation policies, Migrant Protection Protocols (or “remain in Mexico” policy), and the abortion ban for unaccompanied minors are in direct violation of the principles of reproductive justice. This paper also provides an in-depth analysis of the violations of migrants’ sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice while in Homeland Security (US Customs and Border Protection and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) detention, including the recent (September 2020) allegations of forced sterilizations and other invasive and unnecessary gynecological procedures performed by Dr. Mahendra Amin on migrants without informed consent at the ICE Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, Georgia. This research provides a brief review of the histories of population control methods used against ‘undesirable’ groups in the US, that have included practices such as forced sterilization, and are integral to understanding the current context of these abuses. This research examines how these policies and treatment are in direct opposition to the principles of reproductive justice, and how reproductive justice, i.e., linking human rights-based approaches with grassroots led efforts, can pave the way forward in addressing these violations.