Title: Securitisation of female asylum seekers and healthcare in detention centres in Texas

Authors: Claudia Donoso

Addresses: St. Mary's University, San Antonio, Texas, USA

Abstract: The securitisation of female asylum seekers by the US Government violates the health rights of women during their stay in family detention centres. The study's methodology relies on semi-structured interviews with directors of shelters for asylum seekers, an immigration judge, migrant rights advocates, a border patrol agent, and immigration attorneys who have represented female asylum seekers with diverse medical conditions at detention centres in Dilley and Karnes, Texas ¹. The article begins with an explanation about why Central American women are fleeing to the USA. Informed by securitisation theory, the criminalisation of asylum seekers during the Trump administration between 2017 and early 2019 is analysed. The article acknowledges the diverse vulnerabilities that female detainees face in a patriarchal detention system, such as lack of care for pregnant women and sexual abuse. To conclude, alternatives to detention as a way to protect women's health rights and well-being are proposed.

Keywords: asylum; women; immigration detention; healthcare; Texas; border; human rights; securitisation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMBS.2020.111442

International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, 2020 Vol.6 No.3, pp.186 - 205

Received: 07 Apr 2019
Accepted: 01 Jan 2020
Published online: 26 Nov 2020 *

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