Involuntary Sterilization Against Asylum Seekers

Involuntary Sterilization Against Asylum Seekers Amongst the injustices carried out against asylum seekers, specifically women coming from Mexico and Central America who are seeking asylum in the United States, involuntary sterilization stands as an abhorrent. Sterilization has been defined as the process that prohibits an individual from reproducing sexually. The two forms of involuntary sterilization are forced and coerced. Forced sterilization involves either a lack of knowledge or consent, and coerced sterilization involves misinformation or fear tactics. Emanating throughout the United States in the late 19th century, a biological theory of man was introduced by Francis Galton. This theory is referred to as eugenics, and was suited to …show more content…
Social stigma held that immigrants were more desirable at times and less at others. Furthermore, the United States has historically been selective with the “quality” of immigrants that it accepts. When women seeking asylum from Mexico and Central America came to the United States, they would be subjected to involuntary sterilization so that they would be unable to reproduce. Contemporary statistical reports are lacking and sparse. Still, a petition in 2018 included more than 40 women signing written testimony asserting that while detained in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, they underwent invasive medical procedures that were unwarranted and had no prior consent. There are historic figures that may provide a baseline idea for numbers today. From 1907 to 1937, more than 60,000 people suffered involuntary sterilization. In the 1960s and 1970s, women of color underwent “tens of thousands” of involuntary sterilizations. And in the California detention system, 1,400 people were sterilized from 1997 through 2013. The current state of involuntary sterilization in immigrants has severe …show more content…
Yim, Holly G. Atkinson. “Physician Complicity in Human Rights Violations: Involuntary Sterilization among Women from Mexico and Central America Seeking Asylum in the United States.” Journal of forensic and legal medicine. Accessed February 29, 2024. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35580463/. “Home.” International Organization for Migration. Accessed February 29, 2024. https://www.iom.int/. “More Immigrant Women Say They Were Abused by Ice Gynecologist.” The Guardian, December 22, 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/dec/22/ice-gynecologist-hysterectomies-georgia. “Policy Center - Refugee Council USA.” Refugee Council USA -, February 6, 2024. https://rcusa.org/policy-center/. Reilly, Philip R. "Eugenics and sterilization: 1907–2015." Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics 16 (2015): 351-368. Reilly, Philip R. "Involuntary sterilization in the United States: a surgical solution." Quarterly Review of Biology 62, no. 1. 2 (1987):

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Involuntary Sterilization Against Asylum Seekers

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