ABSTRACT
Challenges of life after migration are manifolds and, notwithstanding legal status, Latina women face various barriers to access to reproductive healthcare. In the borderlands, it is increased by the region’s status as a “medically underserved area”. While challenging for many women, reproductive health access for Latina women must be analyzed through an intersectional reproductive justice lens, to fully assess the discriminations that become obstacles to health services. Notwithstanding their immigration status, they face racial discrimination, exacerbated by the anti-immigration discourse and stereotypes. This impacts their mobility but can also have an impact on how they are treated by providers. For undocumented women, migration status adds a layer of complexity, affecting their mobility, economical means and resources available. Immigration enforcement and local politics have come to shape access to health services in the US–Mexico borderlands. Based on multiple field studies along the Texas–Mexico border, this chapter aims to look at state’s legislation regarding immigration control and abortion access and assess the obstacles that Latina women face, both regarding the border wall, and the paper wall, created by the superposition of laws and policies.
