A coalition of civil rights groups, including the San Antonio-based Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, have filed a complaint against the Department of Homeland Security over allegations that pregnant migrants are being denied proper health care in detention centers, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
"Stories where women have miscarried in detention really show the cruelty of our detention center in this country," RAICES Policy Director Amy Fisher tells Newsradio 1200 WOAI.
The legal filing comes as a growing number of women are caught sneaking across the southern border. In the first four months of 2017, immigration arrests of females are up 35% compared to last year. Currently, there are 292 pregnant women detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Fisher says, holding these women in detention centers after a traumatic journey from their country violates ICE's policy, which states that they should be help only in "extraordinary circumstances."
The complaint issued to the department's Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and the department’s Inspector General, has been cosigned by the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Immigration Council, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project and the Women’s Refugee Commission.
The groups say that the issue of pregnant women in detention centers is of immediate concern given the administration’s executive orders directing ICE to dramatically increase immigration enforcement actions and detentions as well as overall detention capacity.
"For pregnant women in detention, the already considerable stress of taking care of one’s health is severely compounded by the extreme circumstances of being detained where one cannot access necessary medical care and support, often experiencing separation from one’s family, including very young children, and the uncertainty of immigration proceedings," the letter reads. "Many of these women are survivors of abuse seeking protection in the United States while being subjected to ―expedited removal fast-track deportation processes and need to prepare - while detained - for an interview with an asylum officer to establish a credible fear of persecution or for a hearing with an immigration judge.”
In July, an ICE spokesperson reportedly confirmed that the policy of not detaining pregnant migrants remains in force, but the complaint says that, though many reports from advocates and attorney, this policy was not being followed as early as November 2016.
Fisher says, instead of detention, these pregnant migrant mothers should be released until their trial date.