ICE Will Now Detain Pregnant Immigrants in Order to Follow Trump’s Executive Order

Pregnant immigrants will no longer be automatically be released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Due to Trump’s executive order requiring immigration officers to “enforce the immigration laws of the United States against all removable aliens,” the agency has changed its policy regarding its detainment of pregnant women.

Under former President Barack Obama, pregnant women were not detained unless their detention was mandatory or if a detention was warranted under extraordinary circumstances. Now, the new policy has “ended the presumption of release for all pregnant detainees” and “ICE will complete a case-by-case custody determination taking any special factors into account.”

ICE’s FAQ page clarifies that its new policy “does not mean that all pregnant aliens will be detained; only those whose detention is necessary to effectuate removal, as well as those deemed a flight risk or danger to the community.” The agency will not detain a pregnant woman during her third trimester.

Despite ICE’s assurance that all detainees will receive onsite prenatal care and access to counseling and assistance, immigrants’ rights advocates argue that it is dangerous for both the woman and her unborn child to be held in custody.

“This new ICE policy memo confirms our fears that the government is continuing its barbaric policy of detaining pregnant despite substantial evidence that detention of this particularly vulnerable population has been linked to serious health implications to the mother and unborn child and also constitutes a significant barrier to receiving a meaningful day in court,” Katie Shepherd, a legal advocate at the American Immigration Council, told The Daily Beast.