top of page

U.S. immigrant detention is a form of incarceration, although immigrant detention has even less oversight than state and federal prisons and jails. This lack of oversight exacerbates possibilities for reproductive justice violations. With the five-fold increase in the number of immigrant detainees in the past two decades, these abuses have become even more commonplace. In fact, immigration detention facilities have been subject to numerous civil and human rights violation complaints. These include: allegations of substandard medical care, sexual and physical abuse, and exploitative labor practices. The horrors of these injustices in immigrant detention can be seen in Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia. In 2020, approximately 40 women likely were subject to unnecessary invasive gynecological procedures by a doctor, known as the “uterus collector,” who commonly performed unnecessary hysterectomies and other procedures. As another example, pregnant detainees who want an abortion have constricted or no access to the procedure. Fighting effectively for reproductive justice requires recognizing the overlaps between the issues incarcerated and detained people experience, as well as the specificity of the oppressions undocumented people face. To learn more about reproductive justice in immigrant detention, check out the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice.

IMMIGRANT DETENTION
bottom of page