L4GG Litigation Director Amy Powell traveled to El Paso as a lawyer. She came back with dust in her hair, dirt in her lungs, and a clearer sense of what justice actually requires. Here, she shares a first-hand account of what she witnessed inside one of the country's largest immigration detention facilities — and why more attorneys are urgently needed.

Bodily autonomy, the fundamental right to make decisions about one’s own body without coercion or harm, and health equity, the principle that everyone is able to attain their full potential for health and wellbeing, depend on freedom from state violence. State violence refers to the use of force, intimidation, and oppression by a government against citizens and noncitizens alike, and is deeply entangled with white supremacy, policing, and criminalization. These systems are fundamentally incompatible with the tenets of bodily autonomy and health equity, as they function as root causes of health disparities by undermining community health—heightening psychological distress, worsening pregnancy outcomes, and restricting access to medical care.

Bodily autonomy, the fundamental right to make decisions about one’s own body without coercion or harm, and health equity, the principle that everyone is able to attain their full potential for health and wellbeing, depend on freedom from state violence. State violence refers to the use of force, intimidation, and oppression by a government against citizens and noncitizens alike, and is deeply entangled with white supremacy, policing, and criminalization. These systems are fundamentally incompatible with the tenets of bodily autonomy and health equity, as they function as root causes of health disparities by undermining community health—heightening psychological distress, worsening pregnancy outcomes, and restricting access to medical care.

Over the past several weeks, Minnesota has become an unsettling mirror of something deeper than a series of federal enforcement operations. Numerous videos have circulated on social media documenting hostile interactions between agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and members of the public: officers confronting people who are filming them, issuing verbal threats, or attempting to seize their phones by force.

Since beginning his second presidential term, Donald Trump has made restricting healthcare access and civil rights a defining feature of his administration.  Research shows that authoritarians often manufacture and weaponize moral panics around gender and sexuality to weaken democratic institutions. By targeting marginalized groups, they erode the civil rights protections that safeguard all citizens and consolidate political power. Controlling people’s bodies becomes a means of controlling populations, suppressing dissent, and maintaining social and political dominance. Through this lens we can determine that the Trump administration’s efforts to limit reproductive rights and LGBTQ equality are not isolated policy choices but part of a broader authoritarian playbook.