The Body at the Borderlands: Applying a Feminist-of-Colour Disability Studies Lens to the USA-Mexico Refugee Crisis

Abstract

From the complications associated with the USA Migrant Protection Protocols to recent reports that United States immigration detention centres are operating at almost quadruple their capacity, news clip after news clip features another story of bodies being violated at the US border. Under United States law, any noncitizen can apply for protection, but recent processing policies at the border complicated the immigration process, especially for migrants with disabilities. With these narratives of displacement in mind, this article begins by examining disability and displacement in terms of both voluntary (migrant workers) and involuntary (refugees) migration at the United States-Mexico border. This article presents an archive of forced displacement under the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy with heightened consequences for migrants with disabilities and chronic health conditions. In the analysis of migration legislation, the methodology associated with anti-oppressive practice is used, which assumes that reducing social and structural disparities depends upon disentangling the complex intersections of power, geographical location, and social difference. By combining this methodology with a feminist-of-colour disability studies theoretical framework, which emphasises the institutional and cultural relations that doubly disadvantage certain bodies, the article will trouble distinctions between ‘health’ and ‘disability’ in order to reimagine the place of diagnosis for asylum seekers with disabilities.