Pregnant ICE Detainees Have Been Shackled, Forced Into Solitary Confinement

The ACLU and other organizations sent a letter to ICE, demanding the release of pregnant detainees.

By Danielle Han | October 22, 2025 | 3:25pm

Photo: Getty Images Politics

Pregnant ICE Detainees Have Been Shackled, Forced Into Solitary Confinement

It’s no secret, slash surprise, that ICE facilities are bad. Cells are overcrowded, the food’s inedible (that is, if it’s in supply), and medical care is substandard. So on Wednesday, the ACLU and other immigrant rights groups sent a letter to the agency demanding that they release their pregnant detainees.

“ICE’s detention of pregnant individuals has led to serious harm,” the ACLU, ACLU Louisiana Chapter, National Immigration Project, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Sanctuary of the South, and Sanctuary Now Abolition write, citing several cases of mistreatment from detainees in Basile, Louisiana, and Lumpkin, Georgia. “These women reported gravely troubling experiences of shackling, use of restraints, and solitary confinement.”

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The women’s stories, which the ACLU collected from over a dozen interviews after Trump re-assumed office, paint a grim picture. One detainee says she suffered “severe infection” after miscarrying. Another said that because of the stress and mistreatment, she developed eclampsia and had a difficult and painful delivery of her baby in August, and continues to suffer from postpartum depression. That same woman said she witnessed a fellow detainee miscarry in their housing unit bathroom.

In another example, a woman says she was shackled during her miscarriage. She’d been detained before she knew she was pregnant, but when she started exhibiting symptoms like vomiting and abdominal pain, she requested to see a doctor. She was denied for weeks before finally being seen by medical staff, who confirmed she was two months pregnant. But less than two weeks later, she experienced heavy vaginal bleeding and cramping in the middle of the night. Despite requesting immediate attention, she wasn’t seen by a medical worker until a day later, who put her in a small room where she bled for hours without food, water, or pain medication. She was transported to a hospital with her arms and legs restrained, where she was told she had miscarried.

“Our interviews indicate that ICE has issued detainers, arrested, and taken pregnant individuals into custody, even after they have informed officers of their pregnancy, in violation of agency guidance,” the letter reads. “Notably, ICE has issued detainers and then detained several cases of pregnant individuals arising from domestic disputes. This practice endangers survivors of domestic violence, particularly pregnant individuals, who are more vulnerable to abuse and violence.”

In September, amid concerns of pregnant detainees being mistreated in ICE custody, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem declared the agency would stop detaining pregnant, postpartum, or nursing women unless in “exceptional circumstances.” But then again, this is also the same DHS that falsely painted a detainee who miscarried as a murderer.

“We urge ICE to immediately conduct a review to identify and release all pregnant individuals in its custody, and to ensure that the agency continues to abide by federal regulations,” the letter continues, stressing the need for a clear method for pregnant detainees to request release and to have timely medical care. “We request a meeting with you at your earliest convenience to discuss these urgent matters.”

As of 2019, Congress had to issue a twice-a-year report on how many pregnant immigrants are being held in facilities, along with detailed explanations as to why they were being held, but they let the requirement lapse in March. And in 2021, the Biden administration updated DHS policy to emphasize that ICE cannot detain anyone pregnant, postpartum, or breastfeeding, unless their release is prohibited by law or in the case of exceptional circumstances, which they emphasized should be “very limited.”

Per Trump’s campaign promise to carry out the largest deportation in American history, close to 60,000 people have been taken into ICE custody, an almost-50% jump from before Trump’s second term. The result has been overcrowding and mounting human rights violations.

Speaking about her experience in the Basile detention center while pregnant, one mother told the ACLU: “I experienced so much pain and trauma while detained. 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.”

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