WRC Statement on Deportation of Pregnant Woman in Medical Distress

Washington, DC — Today, the Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC) issued the following statement in response to reports that a 21-year-old woman who is eight months pregnant, and reportedly under medical distress, will be deported to Colombia.

“This case exemplifies ICE’s inhumane approach to prioritizing detention and rapid deportation over the safety of pregnant individuals and their unborn children,” said Zain Lakhani, WRC’s Director of Migrant Rights and Justice. “Putting a pregnant woman on a flight when she is in medical distress risks both her life and the life of her baby.

“ICE’s own policy states that pregnant women should not be detained except in extraordinary circumstances. Yet WRC has received horrifying reports of pregnant and nursing women being mistreated in US immigration detention. The decision to endanger the life of a woman in the late stage of her pregnancy represents an extreme example of these abuses. Given ICE is operating as a black box of impunity, what’s being reported is likely only scratching the surface of mistreatment.”

Background: The Women’s Refugee Commission launched the first nationwide Detention Pregnancy Tracker that allows healthcare providers, attorneys, family members, chaplains, and other service providers to submit confidential reports about pregnant, postpartum, and lactating detainees they encounter.

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