Cantwell & Colleagues Send Letter to DHS Secretary Noem Demanding Better ICE Treatment of Pregnant & Postpartum Detainees

Cantwell & Colleagues Send Letter to DHS Secretary Noem Demanding Better ICE Treatment of Pregnant & Postpartum Detainees

Overcrowding, inadequate food & water, & lack of emergency medical care all make ICE detention facilities especially dangerous for pregnant women & new mothers

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, joined 13 of her colleagues in sending a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem requiring that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) refrain from detaining pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women "absent exceptional circumstances," and demanding more information about how ICE officers are ensuring that these women are receiving sufficient medical care while in custody.

"Medical research links ICE detention to high rates of pregnancy complications, with physicians finding serious risks to both fetal and maternal health. These already serious risks are heightened by the deteriorating conditions inside detention facilities, including severe overcrowding, reports of inadequate food and water, and lack of emergency medical care," the senators wrote.

"A recent Senate Judiciary Committee staff visit to the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana revealed that 14 pregnant women-a shockingly large number-were detained at the time of the visit. Six Women reported receiving little to no medical care and insufficient nutrition; some reported having never been seen by a physician in the facility, despite efforts to get care. The report shares an anecdote of 'a pregnant woman who had a miscarriage while detained and was allegedly still bleeding when she was deported.'"

"Since the start of the Trump administration, accurate information about the number of pregnant women in ICE custody has been difficult to ascertain. Until this year, ICE provided semiannual reports to Congress on the number and treatment of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in immigration detention; however this previously required reporting has now ceased," the senators continued. "At this time, we do not know how many pregnant women are in ICE custody, whether U.S. citizen babies have been born in ICE custody, and what provisions have been made for mothers' and children's health, safety, and wellbeing."

The letter additionally demands answers from the Trump administration about how many pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women are currently in ICE custody, how many have given birth at ICE facilities, how ICE is determining whether continued detention is appropriate, and how many have been deported - as well as pregnant women's access to prenatal and postnatal health care in all ICE facilities that house pregnant women.

The letter was led by U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). Additional cosigners include Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).

The letter can be read in full HERE.