Systemic Violence and Disability Protections for Central American Migrants in Detention
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Date
2020-05
Authors
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Publisher
The Ohio State University
Abstract
In response to influxes in immigration from Central America, ICE has vastly expanded the immigrant detention system, but has deliberately failed to meet the medical needs of this larger detained population and enacted violent deterrence strategies, such as inhumane treatment and negligent healthcare practices, against them. Using migrant testimony from Óscar Martínez's investigative works, The Beast (2013) and A History of Violence (2016), and "The Flores Exhibits" (2019) as evidence, I argue that a Latin American cultural studies perspective on the systemic violence in the migration process reveals that the ICE immigrant detention system is one of multiple stages in an interconnected chain of systemic violence that drives and regulates transnational migration from the Northern Triangle of Central America to the U.S. I then evaluate the health concerns caused by systemic violence during transnational migration and compare them to U.S. legal definitions for disability to argue that Central American migrants qualify under disability health protections upon entry in the U.S., which renders federal disability law applicable to ICE detention centers. Next, I evaluate reports of ICE's inhumane treatment and inadequate healthcare to argue that it is in violation of federal disability discrimination and due process law. Finally, I propose that these rights violations provide a legal argument for disability rights organizations to file a class action lawsuit against ICE to push for the release of disabled detained immigrants and conclude with a discussion of necessary reforms and practical considerations for this to occur.
Description
Presented at the Ohio State University's 2020 Spring Undergraduate Research Festival
Keywords
Systemic violence, Central American migration, Transnational migration, Immigrant detention, Disability rights