ICE Will Detain Pregnant Women, Ending Previous Policy

By Rafael Bernal, The Hill

29 March 18

 

he Trump administration is ending a policy that exempted pregnant women from immigration detention, according to internal documents reviewed by The Hill.

Under the new policy, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers will treat pregnant detainees as they would any other, save for providing the necessary medical care and keeping a record of pregnant women in custody.

The change was set in place by an internal directive issued in December by acting ICE Director Thomas Homan, titled “Identification and Monitoring of Pregnant Detainees.”

It supersedes a similar directive, issued by Homan in 2016, which said “absent extraordinary circumstances or the requirement of mandatory detention, pregnant women will generally not be detained by ICE.”

That language, borrowed from a 2016 memo written by then-Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, is absent from the most recent directive.

The Hill obtained an internal ICE email sent Thursday that explains the new policy.

The email says that detention of pregnant women will serve to “better align with the President’s Executive Order.”

Trump signed an executive order in January 2017, tightening the way ICE conducts immigration operations and increasing the universe of immigrants deemed a priority for removal.

The internal email, presented as a question and answer sheet, says ICE will complete a “case-by-case custody determination taking any special factors into account” when processing pregnant detainees.

It also says that “absent extraordinary circumstances, ICE will not detain a pregnant alien during the third trimester of pregnancy.”

ICE has been the target of severe criticism from immigrant rights and religious groups, particularly when officers have separated immigrant families in detention.

Still, Homan — an Obama-era holdover — has taken a hard line against undocumented immigrants, saying they “should be afraid.”