Allison S. Hartry
Abstract
Anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States is increasingly focused on restricting women of color’s access to reproductive justice. Rhetoric surrounding “anchor babies” and an “invasion by birth canal” shows how the debate over immigration plays out on the bodies of immigrant women of color. This Article begins by describing the history of exclusion inherent in this country’s immigration laws and the modem political assault on birthright citizenship, both of which are grounded in nativism, sexism, and racism. Using the experiences of individual women and conditions in immigration detention centers as examples,the Article then demonstrates that Immigration and Customs Enforcement appears to be targeting pregnant women for removal with the aim of preventing them from giving birth in this country.
N.Y.U. Review of Law and Social Change 