They Are Snatching Americans Off the Street
ICE raids are now sweeping children who are U.S. citizens
We say it all the time, but it bears repeating: reproductive rights don’t exist in a vacuum. In a culture that truly values bodily autonomy, the right to abortion is protected but so is the right to live freely, without fear of being targeted because of your race, your neighborhood, or your identity. The right to privacy, to safety, to freedom of movement: all of these are connected. And when one right is threatened, the others aren’t far behind. Let’s dive in...
Disclaimer: This story, originally shared by Threads user @hellcatbetty, was flagged for us by a trusted source. While it has not yet been independently confirmed by the shop involved, we are sharing it because we believe it’s important to amplify the voices and lived experiences of those impacted by the devastating and ongoing U.S. ICE raids. We will update this post should new information or clarifications become available.
A creator we trust recently broke the story of two teenage boys in Los Angeles, both U.S. citizens, who were reportedly detained by plain clothed ICE agents without cause. You can read the full post below, but the details are chilling: the boys were racially profiled, picked up at their neighborhood grocery store, and held for days without food or water. When they were found in a random basement, they had serious, untreated medical injuries and are now in the hospital.
To be clear: These were NOT undocumented kids. These were U.S. citizens.
But that made no difference to the ICE officers who profiled and detained them. Their bodies - young, brown, and in the wrong place at the wrong time - were enough to disappear them for days.
This is why we talk about bodily autonomy as more than just a reproductive rights issue. When we defend the right to control our bodies, we’re talking about the right to exist in public without being criminalized, harassed, or detained.
The same political forces trying to strip away abortion access are the ones championing aggressive immigration enforcement, rolling back privacy rights, and pushing for increased surveillance of marginalized communities.
ICE doesn’t care about your paperwork. MAGA doesn’t care about legal status. What they care about is control—over who gets to move freely, who gets to parent, who gets to live. And we have to stop them.
How This Affects You
Bodily autonomy is broader than abortion. If your body isn’t safe from the state—whether in a clinic or on the street—your rights are not secure.
Reproductive freedom depends on freedom of movement and privacy. You can’t make decisions about your body if you’re being detained or surveilled.
Immigrant justice is reproductive justice. The same policies that separate families at the border also prevent people from accessing reproductive healthcare without fear.
You don’t have to be undocumented to be targeted. As this story shows, citizenship isn’t protection when racial profiling is standard operating procedure.
What You Can Do
Team up with immigrant justice orgs doing on-the-ground work in L.A. like Coalition for Humane Immigration Rights.
Learn your rights around ICE encounters with this primer.
Talk about the connections of bodily autonomy and freedom. Don’t let people silo abortion, policing, or immigration. These are overlapping systems of control.
Share the above post by who broke the story. Give visibility to firsthand accounts.
Find us @GEMMA_Talks, @evexplains, @pariphrased