The Effects Coerced Sterilization Has Against Latina Immigrant Women in the United States

abstract

Forced sterilization is a cruel practice affecting the lives of many, particularly Latinx women. 
Coerced sterilization, historically rooted in discriminatory beliefs and practices, has profoundly affected the lives of immigrant women, particularly Latinx women, in the United States.

​From the infamous Buck v. Bell case to modern-day private detention centers, these women have been targeted, manipulated, and coerced into undergoing irreversible procedures, depriving them of their fundamental right to reproductive autonomy. Despite legal challenges and international human rights standards, the government has failed to provide adequate protection or redress for these injustices. As a result, Latinx women continue to suffer from the emotional, physical, and cultural ramifications of forced sterilization, perpetuating cycles of trauma and injustice within marginalized communities.

This abstract aims to shed light on a very prevalent issue that stems back to almost a century ago.

Kyla Uribe

Kyla Uribe, a passionate student majoring in Deaf Studies, aspires to be a vocal advocate for the deaf community, shedding light on their experiences and struggles. As a Multicultural American, she aims to bring about positive change through advocacy and awareness in her community. Her paper was inspired by the overturn of Roe v. Wade and the mistreatment of Latinx women in detention centers.

More than 60,000 forced sterilizations were performed throughout the United States, the majority of the poor, the disabled, immigrants, and racial minorities. However, these heinous acts threaten the Eighth Amendment in the Constitution. This amendment protects the citizens against excessive fines, bail, and cruel or unusual punishment to prevent government abuse. Coerced sterilization falling underneath this amendment and many more, is a procedure that eliminates the ability to reproduce. Doctors have targeted immigrant individuals as a way to decrease the marginalized population and save their state money in welfare costs.

Immigrant women have undergone countless unnecessary gynecological procedures, from removal of the uterus to even death while in a vulnerable or unconscious state.

The U.S. has continued to sweep these cases under the rug arguing that it does not challenge the Eighth Amendment along with the Fourteenth Amendment, a law stating that any born or naturalized citizen in the U.S. including formerly enslaved individuals are provided with equal protection under the law. However, Immigrant women have been manipulated, threatened, quieted, and used while detained at these private detention centers that the government federally funds.

A significant number of cases have occurred in the south, specifically in the states of Virginia and Georgia. These states have private detention centers where immigrant women are subjected to involuntary surgical sterilization practices. Forced sterilization has restricted women from starting a family, which has always been an important part of any woman’s journey. One reason would be the establishment of creating a family in the U.S., which gives safer opportunities, as well as a simpler way of gaining citizenship. Not only that, but the feeling of unconditional love that families hold within each other, but also motherhood experience. However, the detention centers and the government’s confiscation of this fundamental right have deprived these women of the opportunity to create the family they have always desired.

“The history of forced sterilizations has affected immigrant women throughout the world, not just immigrants but people of color, the disabled, and the less fortunate” (Ko). Every woman, even those who make the treacherous journey to the United States for a better life, must be given the right to accept or decline something that will ultimately change their future forever.

Since the passing of Buck V. Bell in 1927, coerced sterilization has continued to affect immigrant women’s lives. The history of sterilization, the creation of private detention centers, and the lack of government protection all have negatively played a role in the forced sterilization of Latina immigrant women.

The first case of sterilization was recorded in 1927, an impoverished white lady named Carrie Buck was the first person to be forcibly sterilized. Her mother was involuntarily institutionalized for being “feebleminded” and “promiscuous.” The court argued that stupidity, epilepsy, and feeblemindedness were hereditary and declared that inmates should be prevented from having kids to avoid passing these defects on to the next generation.

On May 2nd, 1927, with an eight-to-one decision, the Supreme Court ordered Carrie to be sterilized given the presumption that Carrie’s baby would also inherit these traits just like her mother. Not only did they pass the decision on Carrie being sterilized, but they also passed the legalization of state-enforced sterilization. Which meant that states had the right to sterilize individuals they deemed to fit the criteria. The standard began to expand to immigrants and African Americans. Those who were considered as “inferior” to other races, socially and economically, were sterilized. They argued that to “better” humanity, the state had to prevent marginalized groups from reproducing.

The first case of sterilization against racial minorities and immigrants was Skinner V. Oklahoma. Jack Skinner, a Black inmate, was ordered to be sterilized after his third conviction. The state deemed him a habitual offender and argued that the procedure was necessary to prevent him from producing more “socially inadequate” offspring. However, it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees equal treatment under the law regardless of race. Justice William O. Douglas had agreed with the inherent dangers of allowing sterilization, writing:

The power to sterilize can cause races or types which are inimical to the dominant groups to wither and disappear (Boehm).

In a landmark decision, the court declared that states cannot require the sterilization of criminals convicted of crimes since it’s a fundamental right. However, despite this ruling, many state and federal facilities continued to sterilize, violating the rights of their detainees. This practice is not only unethical but it is also, a violation of the law that was meant to protect individuals from such abuse.
​
Then, in 1942, a 16-year-old Mexican immigrant woman, Iris Lopez, was committed to an institution and forced sterilized. After participating in World War II by building Victory Ships, she became a victim of forced sterilization instead of being given the economic opportunity that opened up for women and people of color after the war. Doctor records show that young Latinas like Iris were seen as sex delinquents, “Their sterilizations were described as necessary to protect the state from increased crime, poverty, and racial degeneracy” (Novak & Lira).

After this case, more than 20,000 immigrant women experienced similar tragedies in the South. That's one-third of the national total. About 45 years ago, in 1978, Madrigal V. Quilligan, had reignited conversation. This was a civil rights class action lawsuit filed by 10 Latinx women against the LA county-USC Medical Center. Unauthorized sterilizations were committed against these women with inadequate medical and educational resources available to them. To their surprise, doctors neglected to explain that sterilization was permanent and that having children was no longer a privilege. As a result of being sterilized at a young age, the abused women would have to live with the irreversible pain of being unable to reproduce.

The history and practice of sterilization have had a detrimental effect on families and have resulted in a decline in the immigrant population. This has affected Central American immigrant women, especially those who seek to build a stable family and a home in the U.S. as a means to secure a brighter future and better opportunities.
​
Safety and protection are part of what attracts immigrants to the United States of America. The U.S. has robbed these women of the possibility of creating their next generation by carrying out such inhumane surgeries. As a result, these women cannot pass on their culture, history, language, and values to their future generations. This causes a loss of cultural diversity and heritage, which is incredibly damaging to their communities.

There is a commonly held belief that children provide meaning, satisfaction, and connection in parents' lives. They inspire feelings of love, acceptance, and amusement, while also introducing new ideas, reflections, and opportunities. While also becoming the next generation to pass on their ancestor’s legacy.

Unfortunately, what was once created to bring such joy and happiness to the world was taken away. Immigrant women who were forcibly sterilized will never be able to experience the feeling of being a mother. They will never have the opportunity to feel the unfathomable love, care, selflessness, excitement, and responsibility that is motherhood. The realization that a procedure you underwent deprives you of the right to create a family and reproduce can cause depression, worthlessness, anger, and frustration as you grow older. The scariest part can even be death, as women who are sterilized and can no longer reproduce have a higher chance of getting ovarian cancer or uterine tumors.

Private medical detention centers in the South, as well as in California, have been targeting immigrant women, specifically, Latinx women, since the 1920s. They’ve created a hidden system where they can undetectably force detained women to go through gynecological surgeries and procedures without federal consequences. They have been manipulated, used, threatened, and abused by doctors in their most vulnerable state, leaving them with a scar that removed any opportunity of having children.

In 1974, case Relf V Weinberger found that impoverished people in the South were being forced to agree to sterilization when doctors threatened to withhold welfare benefits or medical care, which was being federally funded by the state. The judge of the case prohibited the use of federal funds for forced sterilizations and the practice of threatening women on welfare with benefits for not complying.

The court underlined that forced medical practices overstep family planning and eugenics. However, in the same era as Relf, the case discussed earlier, Madrigal V. Quilligan, was based on a group of women who were coerced into sterilization and underwent a tubal ligation.

“Hospital staff repeatedly approached the women for consent to sterilization while they were amid labor — some after being heavily medicated — and pressured the women into signing English language consent forms” (Davis). In moments of vulnerability, individuals can experience a heightened sense of uncertainty and fear.

Unfortunately, some prey on people during their most painful moments. Doctors have exploited immigrant women when they are emotionally weak and lack the cognitive capacity to make informed decisions. For instance, doctors or other medical professionals may take advantage of distressed patients if the information is presented in a language they don't understand or in a font that is too small to read. This can lead to situations where women are taken advantage of, leaving them feeling powerless and violated.

With the pressure of sterilization, the doctors told Madrigal that the surgery was reversible and that it was only temporary to get her to sign the consent forms. Three other women also experienced the same situation when in labor. Jovita Rivera and Georgina Hernandez stated that “they were bullied by doctors and nurses who declared their children's burdens on California taxpayers.” Another, Melvina Hernandez, found out “that her tubes had been cut until four years after her son was born” (Valades).
​
The deceit that these doctors portrayed when pressurizing such vulnerable women didn’t take into account the traumatic and emotional distress they have suffered throughout the years. In South and Central America, their culture bases “Women’s worth on their ability to raise a large family, not by their sterilization” (Valdes). Since family planning is important in the Latinx culture, women who are sterilized are viewed differently by those who can reproduce.

For example, men see women who are sterilized as those who “cheat on their husbands or would betray them by not being loyal to them.” Unable to fill their role in their family and their culture, sterilized women are faced with isolation, depression, frustration, and unfulfillment.

The experience of going through such a traumatic event can have everlasting effects on the brain and the body. The impact can be even more profound when individuals are prevented from carrying out their cultural practices and traditions. This is especially true when it comes 
the trauma experienced by detainees who have been subjected to unnecessary gynecological procedures. Such procedures can not only be life-threatening, but lead to chronic stress, changes in behavioral health, and the possible development of life-threatening tumors. ​

Despite the government's knowledge of these heinous acts, they have done nothing to compensate for the abuse. There has been no protection against these detention centers, no overturning of Buck v. Bell, and no financial compensation for the victims. As a result, those who have been affected continue to suffer the consequences of these traumatic experiences without any real recourse or support.

The government is for the people and by the people. They exist to protect the rights of citizens. However, they continuously allow federal funds to help the coercive sterilization of Latina immigrant women.

It has been recognized more than once that discrimination, xenophobia, oppression, threats, and neglect are occurring, yet the government has done nothing.

Instead of overturning the law that carries on the legalization of sterilization, they allow the victim to endure this evil and unjust act. To add protection from this law or seek justice, multiple immigrant women have to suffer. The government must acknowledge its responsibilities under the rules and take decisive action to reinforce its commitment under the Convention against Torture.

These binding agreements directly prohibit the unconscionable conduct witnessed at the abusive detention centers, and the U.S. must be held accountable for its violations of these international instruments.

The Mandela Rules states, “Rule 32 contains an absolute prohibition on engaging in acts that may constitute torture, including medical or scientific experimentation that may be detrimental to a prisoner’s health, such as the removal of a prisoner’s organs.” However, the government doesn’t identify detainees in an isolated detention facility as prisoners, so this rule does not apply to them. Apparently, the rule does not apply to ICE either.

Based on the standards for detention centers, which directly correlate to the Rules, the United States is violating its comment to uphold the principles enshrined in the Mandela Rules. “ICE broke Rules 32 and PBNDS Section D by not obtaining informed consent of the immigrant women before performing surgery, not adequately explaining the procedure in their native language before consent, and the serious harm and forced treatment of the sterilizations” (Sabrina Davis).

There have been many clear violations of these rules, for example, the most recent allegations were in Georgia. The ICDC, or Irwin County Detention Center, transferred detainees to a physician named Mahendra Amin, who sterilized immigrant women without proper informed consent. In addition, Amin neglected many of the Latinx women who were suffering from medical abuse, from failures of protection from COVID-19 to forced hysterectomies.

Because doctors have imposed a permanent choice on immigrant women that will fundamentally impact them negatively without their knowledge or understanding, they will have to live with this decision for the rest of their lives. “Some nurses would try to communicate with detained immigrants by simply Googling Spanish rather than using appropriate interpretation protocols” (Manian). They would also do "dangerous practices, including the removal of the uterus of several women, at the Irwin Center” (ContentEngine LLC).

These practices were considered experimental to see if the threats and coercion would stop the reproduction of racial minorities. Just as these exercises overstep the Rules and Convention of Torture, which the government and the UN established in 1987 and 2015; they have done nothing to put a halt to the injustice.

The government has continuously brushed aside these remorseless acts due to economic and societal benefits that are selfish and sadistic. In a society that upholds the sanctity of human rights and safeguards the well-being of its cities, there are specific protocols in place to ensure their protection. However, these federally funded detention centers coerce Latina immigrant women into a procedure they have little knowledge of, which ultimately deprives them of their inherent right to bring new life into this world. Seeking help and restoration to a position in a higher power and not receiving it can be very prejudicial to oneself.

Despite our constant reliance on a higher power to enforce justice and morality within our nation, they repeatedly fail. When the government and society ignore and disregard the cruel actions imposed upon individuals, it can leave them feeling utterly worthless. Immigrants may develop a sense of self-doubt, questioning the validity of their feelings. This can lead to a reluctance to speak out against instances of mistreatment and abuse, perpetuating cycles of harm that can have devastating, long-lasting effects on the lives of immigrant women in America.

Family has always been an essential part of the Latinx culture, especially for the women’s role and worth in the community. The ability to give life to a newborn baby, to hold a precious human being in your uterus for nine months, to give birth to a child and give your unconditional love to is something that these women will never experience. Motherhood has always been a brand-new perspective and experience that can change one’s life for the better. But the government and state have ripped this beautiful privilege out from under them with no explanation other than the inferiority the majority feels against minority groups.
​
In this regard, forced sterilization has negatively impacted Latina immigrant women due to the history of sterilization, the creation of private detention centers, and the lack of government protection.

All three reasons have manipulated, threatened, quieted, and used immigrant women to take a stand against sterilization.

The thought of intentionally putting a halt to women’s reproductive system due to racist and discriminatory societal beliefs is genuinely disgusting.

It’s even more repulsive that the government has done nothing to end these coerced doings. For a country that is all about the mixtures of ethnicities, cultures, languages, backgrounds, and experiences, it sure feels like they want to keep it as white as possible. These women continue to fight the battle of compensation and protection against the detention centers, and in the case of Buck V. Bell, no person of any race should be faced with the permanence of sterilization, nor should they be discounted when it comes to upholding the law.

Works Cited

Armstrong, Lisa. “Sterilized by the State.” Essence, vol. 42, no. 12, Essence Communications, Inc., 2012, pp. 74-78.

Boehm, Inka Skłodowska. “PUNISHMENT AND PREJUDICE: REPRODUCTIVE COERCION IN IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT DETENTION CENTERS.” The American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law, vol. 29, no. 4, 2022, pp. 529–61.

Davis, Charles. “ICE Said to Transfer Women out of Detention Center That Became Infamous over Allegations of Forced Sterilization.” Business Insider, US edition, 2021.

Davis, Sabrina. “Unrepeatable Harms: Forced Sterilization at ICE Detention Centers.” Human Rights Brief, vol. 25, no. 2, 2022, pp. 153-160
Ko, Lisa. “Unwanted Sterilization and Eugenics Programs in the United States.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 6 Sept. 2023.

Manian, Maya. “Immigration Detention and Coerced Sterilization: History Tragically Repeats Itself: ACLU.” American Civil Liberties Union, 5 July 2023.​