ICE enforcement practices raise questions about oversight of pregnant and postpartum detainees

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has detained and deported hundreds of pregnant, postpartum and nursing immigrants since the start of the Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed for the first time Wednesday. Federal policy says that such individuals should only be detained in limited circumstances.

Between January 1, 2025, and February 16, 2026, 363 pregnant, postpartum and nursing immigrants were deported, DHS reported in response to questions submitted last fall by Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat. Sixteen miscarriages were recorded during that time period. In total, 498 pregnant, postpartum and nursing people were reported as “booked out” of ICE detention in that timespan, meaning that they were detained and then left ICE facilities. 

As of February 16, 121 people who were actively detained were pregnant, postpartum or nursing, according to DHS. Of those, nine were in their third trimester of pregnancy. 

These numbers are the most detailed glimpse the Trump administration has provided into how its sweeping immigration crackdown has affected pregnant, postpartum and nursing people in particular. Dating back to at least fall 2019, DHS reported this information twice a year to Congress. Those reports stopped in 2025.

Previous reports show that ICE reportedly booked 347 pregnant, postpartum or nursing people in 2023 and 375 in 2022; most of those people were released or paroled, not deported. 

Detention facilities have come under scrutiny from lawyers, medical professionals and immigrant rights activists, who say that many provide inadequate health care — particularly for pregnant, postpartum and nursing people, who are at heightened medical risk. 

“We must ensure all pregnant women in custody are treated humanely and with respect,” Murray said in a statement. “I will continue to fight against the gross mistreatment of pregnant women in immigration detention.”

DHS has said that pregnant people make up a tiny minority of people detained — .18 percent of all detainees as of February 16 — and that they receive excellent health care while in ICE facilities. 

“In the limited circumstances in which detention is necessary and appropriate, ICE monitors aliens known to be pregnant, postpartum, or nursing detained in ICE custody for general health and well-being, including regular custody and medical reevaluation, to ensure appropriate pre- and/or post-natal and other medical and mental health care,” the DHS report says.

Multiple nursing women have told The 19th that they were not provided breastpumps when detained. One, Nayra Guzmán, said she was not given a bed to sleep on even as she recovered from a Cesarean section.  Pregnant women and their attorneys have said they received limited prenatal care while in detention — which is vital for monitoring complications and treating them early — or even follow-up for complications. One, Amanda Isabel Fanego Cardoso, said she was diagnosed with preeclampsia and gestational diabetes after being released. Another, Cecil Elvir-Quinonez, said that though she began bleeding while in detention, she was not taken to see a doctor. 

Already, DHS has drawn scrutiny regarding the health care detained people receive. ICE reported 31 detainee deaths last year — more than over the entire Biden administration, and the highest number in more than 20 years. So far this year, at least 11 detainees have died. None of these people were pregnant, postpartum or nursing.

Most people died after experiencing medical complications, including one man whose family attributed his death to an infection he contracted after developing an untreated toothache.

This story was originally reported by Shefali Luthra of The 19th.