End the Shackling and Medical Neglect of Pregnant Women in Texas ICE Detention
End the Shackling and Medical Neglect of Pregnant Women in Texas ICE Detention
The Issue
At Camp East Montana, a federal immigration detention facility in El Paso, Texas, a pregnant woman experiencing vaginal bleeding reportedly received a temperature check, prenatal vitamins, and water. That was the medical response.
Across federal immigration detention facilities, pregnant women are being shackled around their bellies. Nursing mothers are being separated from breastfeeding infants. Women are miscarrying after officers dismiss their symptoms and tell them to drink more water. Between January 2025 and February 2026, 16 miscarriages were recorded among pregnant women deported from ICE custody. As of March, at least 126 pregnant women remained detained.
"Recent reporting reveals the appalling and horrific treatment that pregnant, postpartum, and nursing individuals have endured in immigration detention during this Administration," senators Richard Blumenthal, Mazie Hirono, and Jon Ossoff wrote in a letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
The administration's response has been to close the office responsible for investigating detention abuse.
"It's unacceptable that there are virtually no legal safeguards for pregnant women in federal custody," said Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, who recently reintroduced the Pregnant Women in Custody Act, legislation that would ban shackling during labor, expand prenatal care requirements, and establish independent oversight of maternal health in federal detention facilities.
Shackling a pregnant woman around her belly is not a security measure. Telling a woman who is bleeding to drink more water is not medical care. Separating a newborn from a nursing mother is not a policy. These are failures happening inside federally contracted facilities on American soil.
We are calling on DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin to immediately end the shackling of pregnant detainees, restore the presumption of release for pregnant women from ICE custody, and provide adequate medical care at Camp East Montana and all federal detention facilities. We are also calling on Congress to pass the Pregnant Women in Custody Act without delay.
No woman should miscarry alone because an officer told her to drink more water.
420
The Issue
At Camp East Montana, a federal immigration detention facility in El Paso, Texas, a pregnant woman experiencing vaginal bleeding reportedly received a temperature check, prenatal vitamins, and water. That was the medical response.
Across federal immigration detention facilities, pregnant women are being shackled around their bellies. Nursing mothers are being separated from breastfeeding infants. Women are miscarrying after officers dismiss their symptoms and tell them to drink more water. Between January 2025 and February 2026, 16 miscarriages were recorded among pregnant women deported from ICE custody. As of March, at least 126 pregnant women remained detained.
"Recent reporting reveals the appalling and horrific treatment that pregnant, postpartum, and nursing individuals have endured in immigration detention during this Administration," senators Richard Blumenthal, Mazie Hirono, and Jon Ossoff wrote in a letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
The administration's response has been to close the office responsible for investigating detention abuse.
"It's unacceptable that there are virtually no legal safeguards for pregnant women in federal custody," said Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, who recently reintroduced the Pregnant Women in Custody Act, legislation that would ban shackling during labor, expand prenatal care requirements, and establish independent oversight of maternal health in federal detention facilities.
Shackling a pregnant woman around her belly is not a security measure. Telling a woman who is bleeding to drink more water is not medical care. Separating a newborn from a nursing mother is not a policy. These are failures happening inside federally contracted facilities on American soil.
We are calling on DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin to immediately end the shackling of pregnant detainees, restore the presumption of release for pregnant women from ICE custody, and provide adequate medical care at Camp East Montana and all federal detention facilities. We are also calling on Congress to pass the Pregnant Women in Custody Act without delay.
No woman should miscarry alone because an officer told her to drink more water.
420
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Petition created on May 12, 2026