Senators Call on CBP to End Detention of People Who Are Pregnant, Postpartum, or Nursing
ICE has already issued a policy against taking into custody people who are pregnant or who have recently given birth, Blumenthal-led letter follows a DHS OIG report looking into the harrowing experience of 8-month pregnant woman who was arrested by Border Patrol and forced to give birth standing up at a patrol station
[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) led a group of eleven senators calling on Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas to “direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), including its component agency Border Patrol, to issue a policy prohibiting the detention of people who are pregnant, postpartum, and/or nursing.” The letter was also signed by U.S. Senators Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Patty Murray (D-WA).
The senators’ request for a new policy ending the detention of pregnant and postpartum immigrants follows a report by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG) which “revealed CBP’s lack of necessary processes and guidance to appropriately care for pregnant individuals, and years of documentation by non-governmental organizations regarding serious mistreatment suffered by people in CBP custody.” Blumenthal led a group of thirteen senators in calling for the DHS OIG investigation in April 2020.
The DHS OIG report was spurred by the harrowing experience of one woman who was eight months pregnant when she arrived at the southern border in mid-February 2020 while experiencing flu symptoms. After Border Patrol arrested her, she was sent to the Chula Vista Border Patrol station where she was forced to give birth standing up, delivering the baby into her pants, while holding onto the edge of a garbage can for support. This woman’s experience was detailed in a complaint filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on her behalf.
Monika Y. Langarica, immigrants’ rights staff attorney with the ACLU Foundation of San Diego & Imperial Counties, said about the letter to DHS: “No parent should ever have to endure the trauma and abuse our client suffered when she was forced to give birth in a Border Patrol station and return for a night of postpartum detention with her newborn U.S. citizen baby. We can prevent this kind of mistreatment from ever happening again by altogether avoiding the detention of people who are pregnant, postpartum, or nursing. We welcome the senators’ demand to change CBP policy as a step towards rebuilding our asylum system at the border into one that welcomes people with dignity and humanity.”
Kate Clark, senior director of immigration services for Jewish Family Service of San Diego, added, “Policy changes must be enacted to ensure no one is forced to give birth in custody or immediately returned to a carceral setting with a newborn baby. By aligning these policies with those already implemented by ICE, we can help ensure pregnant people and their families are treated with dignity and compassion as they seek their legal right to asylum in the U.S.”
Blumenthal has repeatedly raised concerns about the serious mistreatment of pregnant people by immigration enforcement officials. In February 2020, Blumenthal led a group of fourteen senators demanding answers from CBP following reports of the issue. The full letter to CBP is available here. The February letter followed a March 2019 hearing on the subject and CBP’s subsequent, alarmingly contradictory answers.
In October 2017, Blumenthal joined Murray, Feinstein, and U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) in writing then-Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Elaine Duke and then-Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Thomas Homan asking for a clarification of policies and additional information about the detention of pregnant women. That letter is available for download here.
Blumenthal is also an original co-sponsor of the Stop Shackling and Detaining Pregnant Women Act – led by Murray – which would protect the health and safety of pregnant women and youth by reinstituting the presumption of release of pregnant women and youth in immigration detention, further prohibiting DHS from shackling pregnant women in its custody, and setting new standards of care and transparency for the treatment of pregnant women and youth.
The full text of the letter to DHS is available here.
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