Abuse of Pregnant Women Under ICE Custody Reported
Posted on10/23/25 at 10:00
- Abuse of pregnant women reported in ICE detention
- Groups demand release of pregnant women
- Systemic medical negligence alleged
Several women detained by U.S. immigration authorities have reported neglect and mistreatment during pregnancy, according to a letter sent Wednesday to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency and Senate committees.
The women claim to have suffered medical negligence, inadequate prenatal care, miscarriages, shackling, isolation, and poor nutrition while in custody.
The letter was written by Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney for the ACLU National Prison Project, who stated, “The stories collected in this letter are just the tip of the iceberg.”
Abuse reported by pregnant women in ICE detention centers
🔴 Immigrant women report losing pregnancies and suffering bleeding and mistreatment while in ICE custody. https://t.co/3hqEEMi4lI
— Noticias Telemundo (@TelemundoNews) October 22, 2025
Cho warned that some women were handcuffed and restrained during miscarriages, while others were denied prenatal vitamins.
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The attorney emphasized that these accounts reveal a pattern of human rights violations against pregnant detainees.
Petitions to ICE and DHS
The document was signed by ACLU National and its Louisiana division, along with the National Immigration Project, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Sanctuary of the South, and the Sanctuary Now Abolition Project.
The organizations demanded that ICE identify and release all pregnant or postpartum women currently detained, and refrain from detaining pregnant or nursing individuals in the future.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In August, an ICE spokesperson had previously denied similar allegations following a report by Senator Jon Ossoff (D–GA), which documented 14 credible claims of abuse involving pregnant women in detention centers.
The signatory groups said these new complaints reinforce the Senate report’s findings, which warned of medical deficiencies and a lack of clear protocols for the care of pregnant detainees.
Testimonies and fear of retaliation
According to the letter, advocates gathered and documented cases of more than a dozen women who were either pregnant or had miscarried while in custody.
Six of them agreed to share their experiences publicly, according to Telemundo.
“We heard multiple stories from women who lost their pregnancies during detention and suffered from the lack of proper medical care,” said Cho.
“These stories are among the most chilling I have ever heard about these detention centers.”
The testimonies were collected under pseudonyms to protect the women’s identities, as many fear retaliation and some still face ongoing immigration proceedings.
So far, neither DHS nor ICE have responded to repeated requests for information sent on Tuesday and Wednesday regarding these allegations or the detention conditions of pregnant women under federal custody.