The Denigration of Women's Bodies and Sexuality in Post-IRCA Border Narratives

The passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), combined with an antiwomen cultural shift, contributed to a contemporary US immigration discourse that scrutinizes (normative) immigrants' bodies, gender performances, and sexuality, whether calling for their inclusion or exclusion from the US nation-state. Using Chris Burgard's documentary film Border (2008) and Tommy Davis's documentary film Mojados (2004), this article shows how US cultural texts draw upon and reproduce characterizations of women's bodies and sexuality as either threatening or victimized. Anti-immigrant reformers focus on gender and reproduction in calls for excluding immigrants and regulating the border. Similarly, pro-immigrant advocates utilize sex- and gender-based narratives, embracing male immigrants while scapegoating non-immigrating women. Both camps draw upon historical racial and gender scripts marking women of color as outsiders, signifying the post-IRCA denigration of women and women's bodies is part of a new stage in the nation's larger racial formation project. The article underscores the interconnectedness of sexism and racism in US immigration discourse and the importance of intersectional analysis to excavate latent biases that inform and infuse political and cultural texts.