‘Unborn children are dying’: Pro-life leaders challenge ICE detention of pregnant women

Dozens of national pro-life leaders are calling for the reinstatement of federal guidance that would generally prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement from detaining pregnant women and new mothers in a letter sent to the Trump administration.

“Medical advocacy groups and investigative reporting have documented prolonged detention of women with high-risk pregnancies, delayed emergency treatment, miscarriages, and stillbirths,” the Feb. 13 letter, signed by more than 30 pro-life leaders across the ideological and religious spectrum, reads. “Simply stated, unborn children are dying because of this policy.”

The letter addressed to President Donald Trump, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons comes from two groups: Rehumanize International, a human rights nonprofit, and Secular Pro-Life, an atheist-led anti-abortion organization. Several Catholics signed the letter, including Lila Rose, founder and president of Live Action; Charles C. Camosy, pro-life ethicist; and Leah Libresco Sargeant, author of “The Dignity of Dependence: A Feminist Manifesto.”

“There’s room for good faith disagreement on what our immigration law should be and how we enforce it, but it should be a foundational principle that we don’t put innocent children in danger while attempting to punish their mothers,” Libresco Sargeant told OSV News in emailed comments. “We should always try to avoid taking pregnant or nursing women into custody when justice and prudence allow it, and we should treat mother and child with proactive care on the rare occasions when they must be held. Current policy doesn’t hold to those principles.”

Herb Geraghty, communications director of Secular Pro-Life, confirmed to OSV News that the letter was sent via certified mail as well as faxed Feb. 13.

“I was heartened to see how many mainstream pro-life organizations and leaders were willing to sign on and show that there is a major constituency that cares about these women and children,” Geraghty said in emailed comments. “Pro-lifers have historically been one of Trump’s strongest voting blocks and so we are hopeful that the administration will take this request seriously.”

Leaders sent the letter following reports from The 19th, a news non-profit, and the American Civil Liberties Union documenting the conditions pregnant and parenting women say they face when arrested and detained. More recently, local news reported Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, is calling for the release of a two-month-old baby from a detention center in Dilley, Texas.

The pro-life leaders’ plea comes after ICE ended a presumption of release for pregnant detainees in 2017 during the first Trump administration. Nearly four years later, in 2021, ICE issued new guidance against arresting, detaining or taking into custody for an administrative violation women who are pregnant, postpartum or nursing unless their release is prohibited by law or exceptional circumstances exist.

Multiple reports suggest that this guidance is no longer followed in practice, the letter says. Pro-life leaders also note that ICE’s website lists the 2021 guidance as “archived” and “not reflective of current practice.”

“We write as pro-life organizations to urge the immediate reinstatement and enforcement of federal protections that prevent the detention of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women, except in truly exceptional circumstances,” their letter reads. “Pregnancy and early postpartum are medical states that require care that immigration detention facilities are structurally unable to provide.”

In response, the signers make four requests in their letter: Reinstate and enforce the 2021 guidance; require field offices to obtain headquarters-level approval before detaining any pregnant, postpartum or nursing woman; publish semi-annual data on the number of pregnant, postpartum and nursing women in custody and the justification for each detention; and review current cases and release pregnant, postpartum and nursing women who do not pose genuine security threats.

“It’s important to note that this ask is urgent (for the mothers) but moderate (as a matter of policy),” Libresco Sargeant said of the letter. “Avoiding holding pregnant and nursing mothers except when absolutely necessary is the approach ICE has taken previously, and all we’re asking for is the restoration of the prior, proven to be workable policy.”

The letter from Rehumanize International can be viewed here: https://www.rehumanizeintl.org/post/protect-immigrant-mothers

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