This Article analyzes narratives around immigrant reproduction and traces the construction of immigrants as bad and unfit parents. It seeks to connect these perceptions, which are driven by nativist and racist beliefs, to the formulation of laws and policies that are designed to unleash violence and fear on undocumented people and their families. In particular, this Article focuses on the “right to raise one’s children in safe and healthy environments” which, per the Reproductive Justice (RJ) framework, is a human right that is guaranteed to all, regardless of their immigration status. It outlines the capacious vision of the RJ movement, which seeks to center marginalized communities and create conditions for them to live without oppression and fear. The Article goes on to note how undocumented immigrants are denied family unity, mental peace, government assistance, health care, and social and economic mobility, thereby preventing them from raising their children in safe, dignified, and healthy environments. It concludes by discussing certain legal, policy, and structural changes proposed by communities and grassroots organizers. If implemented, these changes may create conditions for immigrant parents, families, and communities to live empowered, self-determined, and healthy lives in alignment with the goals of the RJ movement.

Continue reading Love in the Time of ICE: How Parents without Papers Are Stripped of the Right to Raise their Children in a Safe and Healthy Environment