DHS Confirms It’s Breaking Its Own Rules by Detaining Hundreds of Pregnant & Postpartum Women

Over the last year, ICE has mistreated, isolated, and risked the lives of pregnant detainees—in full violation of its own rules, or Directive 11032.4. But on Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security released some official numbers on just how many pregnant people have been unlawfully detained—and if the agency’s track record of spinning their own narrative is any indication, the numbers are likely to be underreported.

Between January 2025 and February 15, 2026, DHS deported at least 363 pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women; at least 498 were “booked out of ICE custody” (detained before they left a facility); and as of February 16, at least 121 are still detained—with nine being in their third trimester.

In its letter to senators—as has become expected—DHS provided its own alternative reality: “In the limited circumstances in which detention is necessary and appropriate, ICE monitors aliens 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.”

This is false. On Thursday, Physicians for Human Rights and the Women’s Refugee Commission published a report consisting of interviews with parents who were recently deported to Honduras—along with the reception centers that did their intake. Of the 29 interviewees, three women were visibly pregnant, and four were postpartum—all of whom had been separated from their babies.