Concerns raised about treatment of pregnant women in ICE detention

With federal immigration operations increasing in North Carolina this year, limited information has been shared about Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees who are pregnant and a nonprofit group helping women in crisis is working to change it.

Arrests have increased in North Carolina since President Donald Trump took office and a growing number of law enforcement agencies have signed agreements to cooperate with ICE. The Women’s Refugee Commission created the Detention Pregnancy Tracker to collect real-time information about pregnant, postpartum and nursing women detained by immigration authorities.

A current policy restricts ICE from arresting immigrants who are pregnant or postpartum except in extraordinary circumstances.

Melanie Nezer, vice president of advocacy and external relations for the commission, said reports indicate the policy is not being followed.

“We have learned that women are miscarrying in detention, that women are not getting the nutrition that they need for healthy pregnancies and that they are showing up after being deported, malnourished,” Nezer outlined. “That’s a huge concern.”

ICE officials have said pregnant women are “housed in facilities to receive proper care while in custody.” But despite filing Freedom of Information Act requests, Nezer pointed out the agency has not shared the data her group is asking for. So, they are working with health care providers and lawyers to collect information and are urging anyone with knowledge of pregnant people in detention to submit reports online.

Nezer noted commission staff had to travel to Mexico and Central America to speak with women who had recently been deported to learn more about the conditions they are facing in U.S. detention. She stressed it is bad enough to be detained during pregnancy, and is especially concerned about the government’s lack of transparency about their treatment.

“We have a right to know how women are being treated in this country,” Nezer contended. “If there are abuses, if there are harms, we need to know that so we can start to fix the problem, because I would assume that everybody of good faith and good conscience would want pregnant women to get the care they need to have healthy babies.”

Nezer added they are still in the early stages of collecting and analyzing data and are working to obtain consent from affected individuals to share their stories, and are advocating to end the detention of anyone who is pregnant or nursing, or at least, to see they receive the proper care.

“It’s really kind of horrifying to think that women are miscarrying in immigration detention alone, without any care,” Nezer emphasized. “That should not be happening in our country.”

Related: Video: This Charlotte mom’s daughter was taken by ICE