Pregnant and Detained by ICE
- 4 hours ago
- 4 min read
by Sarah Terzo
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Organizations on both sides of the abortion debate have been trying to raise awareness of pregnant immigrants detained by ICE. These detainees are receiving substandard medical care, resulting in harm to themselves and their babies.
The Number of Pregnant People in ICE Custody Seems to be Increasing
Attorney Rebecca Cassler, who works for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, says her group is seeing increasing numbers of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing immigrants seeking legal help.
Nobody outside of ICE, she says, really knows the true number of pregnant people in detention, but what she’s witnessing makes her “very concerned.”
An article in The 19th refers to a report released last summer by Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff’s office, which identified 14 cases of pregnant women held in detention centers. All of them were mistreated and/or denied needed medical care.
The report described pregnant women sleeping on cell block floors. One woman suffered a miscarriage alone after days of bleeding. Another sought medical care but was told by guards to “just drink water.”
ICE’s Own Guidelines Ignored
Pregnant individuals aren’t supposed to be detained by ICE to begin with. In 2021, the government released Directive 11032.4: Identification and Monitoring of Pregnant, Postpartum, or Nursing Individuals, which says in part:
Generally, ICE should not detain, arrest, or take into custody for an administrative violation of the immigration laws individuals known to be pregnant, postpartum, or nursing unless release is prohibited by law or exceptional circumstances exist [...]
In the very limited circumstances in which detention is necessary and appropriate, ICE must monitor individuals known to be pregnant, postpartum, or nursing detained in ICE custody for general health and well-being, including regular custody and medical reevaluation, to ensure appropriate pre- and/or post-natal and other medical and mental health care.
Nevertheless, the number of detained pregnant and postpartum women seems to be increasing. Zain Lakhani, a lawyer and director of migrant rights and justice for the Women’s Refugee Commission, said in The 19th:
It would be shocking that we would be able to have this level of detained pregnant people under the guidance … We are seeing just this shocking number of detained postpartum and pregnant women.
Several organizations, including the ACLU (which is pro-abortion), have put together a letter telling the stories of pregnant detainees and advocating for change.
The letter, released October 22, 2025, uses pseudonyms to protect the women from retaliation by ICE.
A Miscarriage and Denied Medical Care
ICE agents took one woman, who was given the name “Alicia,” into custody at an immigration appointment. She had always fully complied with the conditions of her supervision. She’d lived in Louisiana for 10 years and had two children, one of whom is an American citizen. While in detention, she tested positive for pregnancy.
Alicia received food while detained. But, according to the letter, the “minimal portions” of “substandard” food left her feeling “hungry and malnourished.”
In May 2025, she began showing symptoms of an impending miscarriage. She experienced severe abdominal pain, vaginal discharge, and heavy bleeding. Officials took her to a local emergency room.
However, Alicia doesn’t speak English, and neither ICE officials nor the hospital’s staff explained to her what medical treatment she was getting. Medical staff performed what the letter calls an “invasive test of her uterus that caused her excruciating pain,” and injected her with an “unknown medication.”
She was finally told that she had suffered a miscarriage.
ICE then brought Alicia back to the detention facility. They held her for two more months, during which her condition deteriorated.
According to the letter, she experienced “bleeding, swelling, severe uterine pain that radiated through her lower extremities, and foul-smelling vaginal discharge.” By June 2025, she had also developed a fever.
The pain worsened to the point where she couldn’t sleep. She repeatedly requested medical care, but officials denied her requests. No medical personnel evaluated her during this time.
Alicia was deported in July 2025 and separated from her surviving children. Soon after arriving in her country of origin, she sought medical attention and was treated for a severe infection.
Medical Neglect and the Death of a Baby
Lucia entered the US in January 2025. Immigration officials apprehended her at the border, then released her into the United States, telling her she could stay pending an asylum claim, as long as she wore an ankle monitor. So, she was surprised when immigration officers came and took her into custody just a few weeks later.
She was imprisoned in the Stewart ICE Processing Center in Lumpkin, Georgia. In detention, she began experiencing nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. She didn’t realize it then, but she was in her first trimester of pregnancy.
Lucia made multiple requests to see a doctor, but she did not receive an appointment for weeks. At the appointment, medical personnel confirmed that she was two months pregnant.
Just two weeks later, Lucia began experiencing severe cramps and heavy vaginal bleeding in the middle of the night. She immediately called for help and asked to see a doctor, but she was not allowed to see medical personnel until the middle of the next day.
Unfortunately, the personnel merely took her to a small room and left her there, alone, for hours. She lay there bleeding, without food, water, or pain medication, and without knowing what was happening to her.
The letter says that “much later that evening,” they finally brought Lucia to the hospital. They took her there with her arms and legs in shackles.
By the time she arrived at the hospital, Lucia had lost so much blood that she needed a transfusion. After treating her, hospital staff told her she’d had a miscarriage. There is no way to know if her baby could’ve been saved if she’d gotten medical care earlier. The delay, however, clearly put her own life and health at risk.
Hospital staff gave her a few pills for pain, and then officials brought her back to the detention center. At the time of the interview, a month after the miscarriage, Lucia still suffered from abdominal pain and heavy bleeding.
These are the stories of just two women who endured miscarriages in ICE detention and who did not receive proper care. I will write about others in the coming weeks.