Nursing ETDs

Publication Date

Summer 2023

Abstract

Over the last five years, dramatic shifts in immigration policy across three presidential administrations have impacted migrants arriving at the U.S.’ southern border, with unique impacts on pregnant migrants. The purpose of this study was to document, analyze and contextualize the experience of pregnancy in United States immigration detention. Specifically, the study aimed to: 1) understand the situation of pregnant migrants detained in United States immigration detention facilities between 2017-2022; 2) situate the experience of detained pregnant migrants within multiple contexts, including their own individual and family migration stories and the larger context of United States immigration policy; and 3) inform policy and advocacy. A feminist critical ethnography, this study was based on qualitative interviews with formerly detained migrants who were pregnant while they were detained, as well as interviews with service providers who had experience supporting detained or formerly detained people. Participants described pregnancy complications following dangerous desert crossings, difficult detention conditions, family separation, medical neglect in immigration custody, and the expulsion of pregnant migrants into precarious conditions in Northern Mexico. Participants also described the ways that pregnancy, and the capacity for pregnancy, are entangled with every stage of the migration journey. In addition, healthcare workers interviewed for this study expressed significant moral distress about their experiences caring for pregnant people in immigration custody. Considering the work of feminist scholars of color in the U.S.-based reproductive justice movement, the impact of U.S. immigration enforcement on pregnant people amounts to reproductive oppression. Midwives should advocate for policy changes that would decrease the negative impact of immigration enforcement on pregnant people, infants, and families.

Degree Name

Nursing

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

College of Nursing

First Committee Member (Chair)

Amy Levi

Second Committee Member

Kimberly Gauderman

Third Committee Member

Sharon Ruyak

Fourth Committee Member

Michelle Téllez

Keywords

Migration, immigration detention, reproductive justice, pregnancy, U.S.-Mexico border, migrant women

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Download

Share

COinS