Immigration. The more we learn about the conditions in the detainment centers on the southern border of the US, the more is revealed about how much of what has been deemed long gone is still very much present.

Under the Trump administration, the detention of immigrants at the southern border, with not few among them being children separated from their parents, has become an all too common practice. The conditions under which they are detained in these facilities have been described many times as inhumane and abusive. Allegedly, even the barest minimum of medical care and personal hygiene has not been provided to these people. Now, a letter containing the report of a whistleblower released by the non-profit

Project South makes an even grimmer allegation: Reportedly, women at the privately-run Irwin county detention center were subjected to gynecological surgeries that were both unnecessary and done without the consent of the patients. Even hysterectomies, the procedure where the womb is surgically removed, are alleged to have been done under false pretense or without consent. Beyond that, the report gives more details about the widespread medical neglect under which the detainees suffer. Based upon this report, a letter has been signed by many Democratic members of Congress, which urges the Department of Homeland Security to open an investigation into these allegations. The detention center at which these procedures are claimed to have taken place is run by a private prison company and overseen by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  

While it would be shocking if these stories turn out the be true, it would not entirely be surprising, considering the Unites States‘ long history of eugenics and forced sterilization targeting vulnerable people, such as People (especially Women) of Color and those suffering from disabilities. Up until the late 70s, the North Carolina eugenics program was still running, and some of the medical practitioners who participated continued to be active in the medical field until long after. Many of the practices which the Nazis used to exterminate unwanted individuals on an industrial scale had been learned from US-programs, which eugenics researchers such as Harry H. Laughlin even openly bragged about..                 

                :Jan-Krischan Spohr