Nonprofits Urge ICE to End Detention of Pregnant People After Reports of Abuse

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and mothers in particular are vulnerable. Studies show that a woman’s risk of being killed in the US increases 20% when pregnant or after giving birth, with 1 in 3 women experiencing domestic violence within the first 10 years of their child’s life. For many, hotlines and the police can serve as essential lifelines in moments of crisis, but for some, these lifelines are no longer a safe place.

Nonprofits from the American Civil Liberties Union to the National Immigration Project and the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Center are calling for changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after pregnant women detained at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana, and the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, shared their stories of detention and substandard medical care.

According to the ACLU, interviews with these women reveal that ICE has not only issued detainers, arrested and taken pregnant individuals into custody in violation of agency guidance, but they have detained pregnant women in response to domestic disputes—a practice that the ACLU says “endangers survivors of domestic violence, particularly pregnant individuals, who are more vulnerable to abuse and violence.”

Once in custody, more than a dozen women described being shackled or restrained during transport and being subjected to solitary confinement. They also described delayed or substandard medical care, including the denial of prenatal vitamins, inadequate food and a lack of interpretation during medical visits. According to ACLU reports, ane woman says she experienced a dangerous infection after a miscarriage due to ICE’s medical neglect.

In response, nonprofit organizations, including the ACLU, are calling for ICE to:

• Identify and release all pregnant, postpartum and nursing individuals in its custody.
• Comply with its own directive prohibiting the detention of pregnant individuals except in extraordinary circumstances.
• Guarantee timely medical care consistent with community standards of care.
• Investigate failures of informed consent and language access for women seeking gynecological care.

“I experienced so much pain and trauma while detained,” Jenny*, a mother who was detained in February 2025 at the Basile detention center while pregnant, told the ACLU. “I am sharing my story for all the other women in detention, as well as the women who were deported. There were even women who lost their pregnancies. I want to make sure everyone knows what we had to go through. There are many women in detention who are facing this experience now and each of them needs help and support from advocates, members of Congress, and the community.”

You can read the nonprofit’s full letter to ICE at ACLU.org. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, visit thehotline.org for safe and confidential resources.