February 4th 2020

By Gabe Ortiz

Daily Kos

Oregon’s senior United States senator is calling for information from top Trump administration officials regarding the abusive and inhumane treatment of pregnant people in federal immigration custody. “I continue to hear horrific reports about pregnant women subject to unsanitary conditions and left without the health care they need in U.S. detention facilities, some even shackled. These women shouldn’t be detained at all, and that was the policy before Trump became president,” Sen. Ron Wyden said in a statement. “In my view, the Trump administration has not only failed to meet its basic responsibility to ensure timely and adequate medical care for pregnant detainees, it’s made conditions worse. We need answers, and now.”

In his letter to acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan and acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Matthew Albence, the senator references a July 2019 incident in which U.S. border officials attempted to block a pregnant asylum-seeker experiencing complications—until Wyden, who was visiting families at a Mexican shelter that day, intervened. “Following my trip,” he says in the letter, “I looked further into the treatment of pregnant women in detention facilities, including those managed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and I became increasingly concerned that this administration’s revision of policies has only worsened a systemic problem.”

Pregnant people shouldn’t be held in federal immigration detention, yet the Trump administration in 2018 horrifically changed ICE policy to allow the agency to detain more. “There is no disputing the fact that pregnant women require specialized medical care and sanitary conditions to ensure their well-being and safety through pregnancy,” Wyden tells Morgan and Albence in the letter. “Regrettably, and contrary to the recommendations of the medical community and several members of Congress, this administration has decided not to reinstate a policy of presumptive release for all pregnant women.”

Recently, the ACLU Foundation of San Diego and Imperial Counties and the ACLU Border Rights Center filed a complaint with the Homeland Security inspector general documenting abuses against detained pregnant people, with ACLUF-SDIC attorney Mitra Ebadolahi saying in a statement, “CBP routinely fails to treat its vulnerable detainees with the dignity and respect that all people deserve. Anyone who is pregnant requires heightened medical care. CBP and Border Patrol detention facilities are categorically unsuitable to provide this level of care.”

In just one example detailed in their complaint, a woman named Irene suffered immense harm during and after her 12 days in custody. “As Border Patrol had confiscated Irene’s HIV medication, Irene’s symptoms flared,” the complaint stated. “She suffered intense trembling and cold sweats. In addition, Irene continued to experience symptoms consistent with miscarriage, including excruciating cramping and lower back pain. After twelve days in Border Patrol custody, Irene finally was transferred to the Otay Mesa Detention Center, where she was evaluated by medical personnel. These providers confirmed that Irene was no longer pregnant.”

“At a bare minimum, it is certainly the responsibility of your agencies to institute strong measures to ensure timely and adequate medical care and the humane treatment of pregnant women in custody. This includes ending the practice of shackling pregnant migrant women, considering that the practice is banned in federal prisons under the recently enacted First Step Act,” Wyden continues in his letter to Morgan and Albence. “Further, it is your responsibility to investigate the disturbing complaints raised at your detention facilities, hold personnel accountable for the mistreatment and neglect of detainees, and correct course as needed to ensure the safety and care of all detainees.”

Posted with permission