Eugenics Use Against Immigrants

The Popularity of the Eugenics Movement and it’s Creation

The beginning of the 20th century involved a darker turn when it came to immigration. According to Teryn Bouche and Laura Rivard, the eugenics movement began to take place. It was led by Charles Davenport, a biologist, and Harry Laughlin, a former teacher and principal that was interested in human breeding. By 1910, Davenport had founded the Eugenics Record Office (ERO) on Long Island. His reasoning was “…to improve the natural, physical, mental, and temperamental qualities of the human family” (Norrgard 2008). By the 1920s, eugenics had become a popular movement and the result was the creation of the American Eugenics Society. This eugenics movement in Europe promoted itself through selective breeding for “positive traits.” However, in the U.S., it quickly focused on eliminating “negative traits.” These traits that were undesirable based on the early-1900 U.S. standards included the poor, uneducated, and minority populations. It was broadly believed by eugenicists that these “traits” were hereditary. Eugenicists sought to prevent these groups from reproducing and helped drive legislation that forced sterilization on those groups, including immigrants. The US eugenics movement began to lose traction by the 1940s and was completely discredited following the horrors of Nazi Germany. The thing is, the United States indirectly influenced the Nazis.

The Nazi Regime modeled its Ideologies on Race Purity After the United States

According to Tom Abate, there was an incident where California’s sterilization practices were held up as models for the Nazi regime. In 1935, Eugenics Record Office leader Harry Laughlin was invited to an international conference on eugenics in Germany. Unable to attend, Laughlin instead sent his German hosts a diagram displaying the pedigree of “a feeble-minded woman sterilized by the state of California” (SF Gate). Dr. Alexandria Stern says that white elites in the early-to-mid 20th century had strong biases about who was “fit” and “unfit.” These white elites thoroughly embraced eugenics. They believed that American society would be improved by the increased breeding of Anglo Saxons and Nordics. They had assumed these two groups had high IQs. As a result, anyone who did not fit this mold of racial perfection, which included most immigrants, Blacks, Indigenous people, poor whites and people with disabilities, ultimately became the targets of U.S.-based eugenics programs. Although mostly illegal, eugenics is still being used on minorities and immigrants in the U.S. See Modern Detention Center Case Study 1: Irwin County and Unwanted Sterilization and Eugenics Programs in the United States for further details.

The Sterilization of Mexican-American Women

In 1978, Dr. E. J. Quilligan started performing sterilization procedures on Mexican-American women. In the case, Madrigal v. Quilligan, he was accused of performing these procedures on women that did not consent to his practice. Dr. Quilligan’s malpractice shows the continuation of sterilization being used to create a more “advanced society” in his eyes and the eyes of white elites. “In California, sterilization disproportionately targeted Latino men and women. Women had a 59% higher risk and men had a 23% higher risk compared to other Americans of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds” (Chloe Reichel). The case was dismissed by Judge Jesse W. Curtis because they claimed it was a situation of “miscommunication” between the doctor and his patients (Marcela Valdes).

Continue Reading: Detention Center Case Studies

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Last edited April 23, 2021.