Human Rights organizations accused the Government of mistreating pregnant, illegal immigrants

Leer en Español: EE. UU: peligro para las migrantes embarazadas

The American Civil Liberties Union accused the United States’ government of violating immigrants’ rights, especially those of pregnant women. According to the organization, 10 pregnant women were detained by the Border Patrol and the way they were treated made the international community shiver.

The ACLU even said that one of them had pregnancy complications and “despite the emergency nature of her medical needs, she reported that her pleas for assistance were ignored. Instead, she was transferred from a Border Patrol holding facility to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center” where she had a spontaneous abortion.

The organization also said that the asylum seeker is still detained and “continues to experience serious medical issues including bleeding, vomiting and headaches”.

Back in August 2016, ICE published a handout stating the proper care of pregnant women under their care. It specified that they should only be detained if they are subject to the statutory requirement of mandatory detention or under “extraordinary circumstances”. This was made after an officer’s body cam video showed the traumatic arrest of a pregnant women due to the brutality of the actions.

This is why the ACLU condemned the mistreatment of pregnant women in custody of ICE. They asked the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and the Office of Inspector General to investigate the methods of the Immigration and Custom Enforcement.

According to some reports, ICE detained 292 pregnant women during the first 4 months of the year. The ACLU is worried that with the Trump’s administration’s plans to arrest and deport immigrants, there will be “an increase in the number of women, including the most vulnerable, detained by ICE”.

Latin American Post | Santiago Gómez Hernández 

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