Pregnant Women Victimized and Distressed by ICE and CBP

A pregnant woman was needlessly held at an ICE facility with her 2-year-old and 8-year-old children instead of simply given bail. ICE waited to deport her until she was nine months pregnant despite known health risks flying that late and against airline policies and medical advice.

24 weeks expecting mother Ribeiro Semedo was hospitalized after experiencing conditions at an ICE facility a doctor testified put her at higher risk.

A pregnant woman was held face down on the ground in the street with knees in her back and then suddenly dragged by one arm across the street ignoring repeated pleas from the crowd that "She is pregnant" and that "She can't breathe."

33-year-old Katie Paul was arrested by ICE agents at an immigration office of which her husband Paul said he "had to take our baby from my crying wife’s arms." She was handcuffed and needlessly detained for 6 days despite reassurances from prior immigration officials that it was ok to stay in the United States as she was in the final stages of getting a green card and had a high-risk pregnancy due to her age. Her lawyer said she was "completely dumbfounded" as this had never happened before. She then had to file a lawsuit in federal court after authorities tried to deport her without a hearing. Paul had to take leave from his job to take care of their baby until the Green Card she was obviously going to get was finally approved, and she was released.

A mother of two children found out she was pregnant after being detained by ICE for around a month in Louisiana but "received minimal portions of substandard food that left her feeling hungry and malnourished." She later experienced abdominal pain and other severe symptoms that required hospitalized during which she was told she had a miscarriage. She was taken back to the ICE facility where she continued to suffer from severe symptoms and pain and kept for an additional two months before being deported.

9-month-pregnant U.S. born citizen Cary Lopez Alvarado was racially profiled by ICE\CBP agents who said, "you're from Mexico, right?" while she was filming them arrested her boyfriend at a safe distance. Despite this, they handcuffed and detained her for over 8 hours with a chain around her belly and released her with cuts and bruises as she went into labor.