Texas houses the country’s only family detention centers and has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the U.S., but it is also home to powerful reproductive justice and migrant rights movements
By Ja’Loni Amor Owens, Prism
The reproductive justice movement’s power in Texas is rooted in a truth we know too well: to fight for bodily autonomy is to fight for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the broader Department of Homeland Security (DHS) apparatus.
We are not new to this, but true to this.
Texas is the epicenter of ICE terror: the national leader in ICE arrests and deportations and the solitary home of family detention. DHS recently pursued plans to purchase a warehouse in Dallas to cage up to 9,500 more of our neighbors. Though the developer ultimately withdrew following public pressure, the attempt reveals the scale of detention infrastructure the state is actively seeking to expand. We live with the visceral reality of state violence that forcibly disappears and kills our communities, from Houston to Amarillo, from Austin to the Rio Grande Valley.
The possibility of a Texas without militarized borders and overcrowded cages of immigrant families is dismissed by people who have no idea the reality of Texans’ daily lives. In Houston, one out of every seven residents knows someone detained or deported by ICE, with this number doubling among residents who identify as Hispanic and those near or below the poverty line. Across the state and over 20 detention centers, Texas holds the highest daily population of detained individuals, followed by California and Louisiana.
Recent Posts
Humanity Owes Cuba: Unilateral Coercive Measures and the Politics of Punishment
Take Action Now “There can be no clearer example of a violation of human rights than the economic embargo imposed by the United States against……
Israel Didn’t ‘Drag’ the U.S. Into War—American Hawks Have Wanted This for Decades
Take Action Now Blaming Israel alone for this catastrophe lets U.S. leaders off the hook for their actions.By Khury Petersen-Smith, Institute for…
The Supreme Court Looks Likely to Cave On Mail-in Ballots
Take Action Now The GOP shouldn’t win this case, but the fact that Trump has been throwing a tantrum about it for years means they likely will.By…
Democrats Might Save Mike Johnson’s Push to Give Trump Domestic Spying Power
Take Action Now They’re crossing party lines to renew Section 702 of FISA. Jamie Raskin asks, “What could go wrong with that?”By Matt Sledge, The…