Defend Migrant Women! Fight Fascist Attacks!
The International Women's Alliance (IWA) strongly condemns the ongoing waves of violent raids, kidnappings and detentions by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which have had profound impacts on migrants across the United States. Thousands of migrants and migrant communities are left dehumanized, traumatized and living in constant fear. Women migrants are ripped away from their families and loved ones as a result of these aggressive immigration policies. As women, we must stand firmly in solidarity with the thousands who are mobilizing alongside migrants on the streets of the U.S. starting last week, demanding justice, the right to live with dignity, and for the protection of migrant rights.
In the last 6 months alone, an alarming increase in executive orders (EOs) signed by the Trump administration have attacked women's economic, social, and cultural rights, exacerbating the vulnerability of migrant women. These policies have led to horrific conditions in detention centers, with reports of neglect and violence. Nine people have died while being detained or under ICE supervision, making this the deadliest year in an ICE facility since 2020. Marie Ange Blaise, died after being denied necessary medical care while in ICE custody.
Conditions in these detention centers have failed to keep up with standards, further relegating migrants to dehumanizing conditions. Women in detention cary histories of trauma, including previous abusive and violence, and the environment of detention exacerbates mental health issues, which often go untreated and lead to increased anxiety and depression. Women who are pregnant while in detention do not receive appropriate prenatal care.
Furthermore, detained migrants are often held in these detention centers far away from their families, isolating them from their communities and support systems, like in the case of Ligaya Jensen who was detained in Southern California but taken to the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona. In other instances, migrant women have been subject to detention in an all-mens processing centers due to overflow, like the case of the 4 anonymous women who spoke out about being held in the Krome North Processing Center with no privacy, lack of access to bathrooms, and a high risk of gender based violence.
The US’ so-called "immigration policies" are part of a broader economic context of inequality and exploitation, driven by greedy billionaire interests who continue to further exploit labor and plunder land and resources of other countries. The increasing militarization of immigration enforcement and the rise of fascist attacks against migrants serve to divide and distract the people from the reality of these economic injustices that empower the super rich while the majority are left to fight over crumbs. Many migrants are forced to leave their homeland to secure a future for their families. This crisis is exacerbated by governments who enter into exploitative economic agreements with the U.S., adopting neoliberal policies which lead to unlivable conditions conditions in migrant’s home countries. Corrupt bureaucrats in these countries line their pockets while neglecting the basic needs of their people.
Two years ago, IWA members based in the United States participated in a campaign to oppose the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings, highlighting the fight against neoliberal policies that hurt rural and working class women the most. APEC is an example of alliances between government heads of state that sell out their people to the highest imperialist bidder. This year, APEC is continuing their Women and the Economy Forum (WEF) in Incheon, South Korea where they will continue to talk about women as an "untapped resource" for economic growth while continuing to ignore the basic needs of women around the Asia Pacific region. These governments do everything to protect their standing in the economic alliances, instead of protecting their people abroad, by continuing to extend exploitative labor export policies and refusing to challenge the U.S.’ fascist attacks.
In the face of this repression, we are calling on women to continue defending migrant communities! The U.S. government must be held accountable for orchestrating the forced migration of thousands of migrants, and subsequent fascist attacks against them. Continue building organizations and networks that fight for your communities' need to be met! IWA calls on women to fight for an immediate halt to all ICE raids and detentions, the release of all detained migrants, an end to the militarization of immigration enforcement, and full protection, legalization, and rights for all undocumented and displaced people! We also call on our members around the globe to hold host governments and home governments accountable for attacks against migrants - and to fight for a system that eliminates the need for forced migration to keep the imperialist beast alive!