Immigrant Rights, Reproductive Justice, and Sexual Freedom
September 16, 2026
We are now halfway through Sexual Freedom Month. This September, we at the Woodhull Freedom Foundation are highlighting our fundamental human right to sexual freedom and all that it encompasses. Everyone, in every community, holds this sacred right. And this sacred right is inextricable from a vast array of social justice struggles.
Today, we are focusing on recent reporting in Ms. by Christina Baal Owens, Regina Davis Moss, and Lupe M. Rodríguez. As they assert, attacks on immigrant communities are reproductive justice issues. And as we at Woodhull agree, and as we further assert, reproductive justice issues are sexual freedom issues.
In their article, Owens, Moss, and Rodríguez detail how immigration enforcement officers enact reproductive and sexual violence in the U.S. immigration system. There is no shortage of horror, particularly in the inhumane detention centers scattered across the country.
In detention centers, access to quality, comprehensive pre- and post-natal medical care is all but nonexistent. Officers medically neglect pregnant and breastfeeding detainees. Immigrants who are not detained are also profoundly affected; people are delaying reproductive healthcare out of fear of ICE activity.
Officers in detention centers are also sexually assaulting people. Last year, there were 159 calls for service to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department for the Otay Mesa Detention Center. Thirteen percent of those calls were related to the Prison Rape Elimination Act. Up north at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington, investigations into sexual assault are abysmal. The grievance process is failing. Across the country, in New Jersey’s Delaney Hall Detention Facility, 10 sexual assault complaints have been made about one guard. The guard continues to work inside Delaney Hall.
These flagrant violations of immigrants’ fundamental human rights are gut-wrenching. Owens, Moss, and Rodríguez are clear: “Targeting immigrant communities threatens the freedom at the heart of reproductive justice. Detention and deportation don’t just determine who can remain in this country—it shapes whether families can stay together and raise children safely and with dignity. That is why attacks on immigrant communities are reproductive justice issues.” And reproductive justice issues are sexual freedom issues.
As we celebrate Sexual Freedom Month, we will highlight all that sexual freedom encompasses, including LGBTQ+ rights. Sexual freedom — and immigrant rights and reproductive justice — are at the heart of human dignity, equality, and civil liberties. There are many ways to join Woodhull in our work to advocate for our right to sexual freedom, including by signing up for our mailing list or making a donation.
