Women’s Refugee Commission Launches First-Ever Detention Pregnancy Tracker

New tool will collect reports on conditions of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in U.S. immigration detention

WASHINGTON – The Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC) today announced the launch of the Detention Pregnancy Tracker, the first nationwide tool designed to collect real-time reports on pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in US immigration detention.

Despite significant reports of harms to pregnant detainees, there is insufficient data to understand the scope and scale of the problem. Immigration detention has a become a black box, with advocates, and legal service providers no longer able to access these facilities. The Department of Homeland Security has effectively gutted its monitoring and oversight agencies and is no longer submitting the previously required reporting to Congress on the number and treatment of pregnant detainees.

In response, WRC has launched the first nationwide Detention Pregnancy Tracker that will allow healthcare providers, attorneys, family members, chaplains, and other service providers to submit confidential reports about pregnant, postpartum, and lactating detainees they encounter. The tracker will allow WRC to collect real-time information on detained pregnant women from a vast array of sources, so that we can shine a light on what is happening in these facilities and fight for women to receive better treatment and care.

“Pregnant, postpartum, and lactating women are a highly vulnerable population that should be protected from hazards of detention — US policy explicitly recognizes this,” said Zain Lakhani, Director, Migrant Rights and Justice at WRC. “Yet, we continue to hear of cases of ICE ignoring these protections, putting the health and safety of women and their babies at risk. This tool will bring transparency to a system that has become a black box, so we can fight for the safety and human rights of these women.”

Since 2021, policies have been in place to prohibit the detention of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women except under certain exceptional circumstances. If they must be detained, the policy imposes strict requirements on detention facilities to monitor them closely and provide appropriate care. WRC has substantial evidence to suggest that these requirements are not being followed, and that pregnant women are not only being detained in significant numbers but also being housed in conditions that are profoundly unsuitable, without access to sufficient food or even urgent medical care. WRC has heard reports of women being left alone to miscarry without water or medical attention for more than 24 hours. We have also encountered deported women so malnourished from their time in detention that their bodies were no longer able to lactate.

You can read more about WRC’s work on pregnant women in detention here.