Murray Blasts Inadequate DHS Response to Oversight Letter on Pregnant Women in ICE Detention
Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, issued a statement blasting former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s inadequate response to an oversight letter Murray led with Senate colleagues in September. The lawmakers urged DHS to follow its own standards and stop detaining pregnant women. They also demanded information about the detention and treatment of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. In their highly delayed response, the Department failed to fully answer key questions about the number of pregnant women currently detained and the care they are receiving.
In their letter, the senators wrote, “ICE’s own standards are unambiguous on the detention, monitoring, and treatment of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in detention. ICE Directive 11032.4, Identification and Monitoring of Pregnant, Postpartum, or Nursing Individuals (2021 Pregnancy Directive), states that ICE should not detain pregnant, postpartum, or nursing individuals except under very limited circumstances.” Yet, according to DHS’s response, they reportedly have not been living up to their own standards and as of February 16, 2026, there were 121 pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women detained. Also, according to their response ICE has deported 363 pregnant, postpartum, or nursing women between January 1, 2025 and February 16, 2026.
“This data reveals a significant crisis of pregnant, postpartum, and lactating women in detention,” said Zain Lakhani, Director of Migrant Rights and Justice at the Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC). “WRC has documented numerous instances of grossly insufficient food and lack of access to medical care, including for serious and even life-threatening pregnancy complications. The 16 documented miscarriages in detention also confirm what WRC has long warned: these women are being detained in conditions that cannot support their pregnancies. ICE must take immediate steps to ensure that its own policies to protect these vulnerable women are enforced.”