Thread: DHS expands detention of pregnant illegals

Reversal of Obama-era policy blasted by immigrant-rights advocates

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times - Thursday, March 29, 2018

Homeland Security announced a new policy Thursday that allows it to detain more pregnant illegal immigrants, reversing an Obama-era policy that had generally pushed for pregnant women to be released.

The move drew swift condemnation from advocacy groups who said it was cruel, but the department said they felt a need to create a uniform policy that applied to all migrants, and were carrying out an executive order from President Trump.

The change doesn’t guarantee all pregnant women will be held, but it removes the presumption that they be released.

“This is now a case-by-case basis,” said Tyler Houlton, a spokesman for Homeland Security.

The policy change was signed in December, though U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — the Homeland Security agency in charge of detaining illegal immigrants — only announced it Thursday. The agency said it wanted to make sure it was implementing it correctly.

Immigrant-rights advocates said the move was a step backward for an agency already facing criticism for carrying out Mr. Trump’s immigration priorities.

“ICE is reaching new lows in its attack on immigrants and its willingness to violate women’s bodies and our rights,” said Jess Morales Rocketto, chairwoman of the We Belong Together Campaign. “The nine months of pregnancy should be a time of care and preparation to bring a new life into this world. The dehumanization that occurs in detention is the exact opposite of what pregnant women or any woman should experience.”

Detention policy is complicated by the fact that there are some migrants who are considered “mandatory” detainees — generally those caught at the border and those whose records Congress has said require detention.

All other migrants in deportation proceedings are evaluated on a case-by-case basis to see whether they should be held as flight risks or out of public safety concerns.

Many pregnant women who end up in ICE custody are already mandatory detainees, meaning the agency was holding them even during the old Obama-era policy. Of the 35 pregnant migrants in custody as of last week, all were mandatory holds, ICE said.

Since the policy change in December, ICE has encountered a total of 506 pregnant detainees — though most of them have been released, either because they’ve been deported or were set free into the community.

All women ages 10 to 56 in ICE custody are given a urine test for pregnancy. If they are found to be pregnant they are scheduled for appointments with a doctor, and given prenatal vitamins, lab tests and whatever other care doctors recommend.

Activists groups have filed complaints with ICE over treatment of pregnant women in custody, pointing to cases of women who miscarried while in detention.

“Instead of ensuring these women have access to the care and support they need, this policy will force pregnant women to be housed in unsafe, highly stressful and controversial detention facilities,” said Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news...nant-illegals/

All women ages 10 to 56 in ICE custody are given a urine test for pregnancy. If they are found to be pregnant they are scheduled for appointments with a doctor, and given prenatal vitamins, lab tests and whatever other care doctors recommend.

Any illegal alien discovered to be pregnant should move to the head of the line to see an immigration judge. I'm talking about a process that would only take days, not weeks or months. For the illegals caught within 100 miles of the border, they are eligible for expedited removal, which means they are not entitled to see an immigration judge. Well, those pregnant women should take top removal priority and be sent back to their homeland immediately.

They need to be FAST TRACK DEPORTED out of here!

No pregnant ones...send them back to their country!

Do not detain them, do not release them in our communities...hand them over to the authorities in their country.

We do not want them or their anchor rats...we do NOT want to pay for it!

Give them urine test...NO DOCTOR...load them up and get them OUT!

ICE paves way to detain more pregnant immigrants

The Trump administration will no longer seek to automatically release pregnant immigrants from detention — a move in line with the overall efforts by the administration to hold far more immigrants in custody than its predecessors.

The change in policy could pave the way for more pregnant women to be held in detention facilities while they await lengthy court proceedings about whether they can stay in the US, facilities that are already decried by critics for tough conditions. The decision comes as immigration advocates have assailed the administration’s efforts to hold more immigrants in detention writ large and its increased arrest of noncriminal immigrants.

The change in policy was sent by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to Congress on Thursday morning and later announced in a conference call with reporters. The policy was first finalized in December, officials said.

According to Philip Miller, a top official in ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, as of March 20, there were 35 pregnant women in detention in ICE’s custody. Since December, 506 pregnant women have been detained, Miller added.

He said it was difficult to estimate how many more pregnant immigrants would be detained under the new policy. Immigrants who are caught trying to cross the border illegally already are required to be in detention — although once they pass a threshold test for asylum claims, the government can choose to release them. He also could not say how the policy applied to nursing mothers.

According to the new directive, immigration officers will no longer default to trying to release pregnant women who fall into immigration custody, either because they are undocumented or otherwise subject to deportation. The Obama administration policy urged officers to presume a pregnant woman could be released except for extreme circumstances.

But an FAQ sent with the directive makes clear that ICE is not going to detain all pregnant immigrants. The policy will require a case-by-case evaluation, the FAQ explains, and will keep in custody “only those whose detention is necessary to effectuate removal, as well as those deemed a flight risk or danger to the community.”

ICE will also lean towards releasing pregnant women if they are in their third trimester, Miller said mainly because they would not be allowed to fly and thus couldn’t be deportedin that trimester, and will also make an effort for detention facilities to provide services to pregnant women and parents.

Miller downplayed the impact of the change, saying it was an attempt to make clear the administration’s policy that no immigrants are exempt from enforcement.

“To mischaracterize this as some kind of wholesale change or draconian change is inaccurate. We’re aligning this policy, as all of our policies, with executive orders from the President.”

The move follows controversial efforts by the Department of Health and Human Services to keep unaccompanied minor immigrants in custody rather than releasing them to obtain abortions, a policy that has been the subject of intense litigation and criticism from the advocacy community.

Groups have been critical of the treatment of immigrants in detention. A coalition of civil rights, pro-immigrant and women’s groups have also raised concerns about medical services for pregnant immigrants and a number of miscarriages in custody. Members of Congress also questioned the Department of Homeland Security about those conditions.

Calling it an “attack on women and children,” Michelle Brané, director of the Migrant Rights and Justice Program at Women’s Refugee Commission, said the organization “condems” the move.

“The Women’s Refugee Commission has long documented the dangerous and unhealthy detention conditions that are especially dangerous and inappropriate for pregnant women,” Brané said in a statement. “Many women are pregnant as a result of rape and violence that theyexperienced either on the journey to the U.S. or that may be part of an asylum claim. Detention is especially traumatic for pregnant women and even more so for victims of rape and gender-based violence.”

ICE included Dr. Ada Rivera, the director of medical services for the agency, on the call to explain the services that will be provided for women in custody. She said all women of child-bearing age are tested for pregnancy at the beginning of their detention and ICE provides on site care and education in addition to off-site access to specialized medical care.

The Trump administration has pushed ICE to expand the use of detention for immigrants subject to deportation, in an effort to cut down on the number allowed to live in the US as they await court proceedings.

The process for finalizing adeportation in the US immigration courts can take years, and often the immigrants released from detention begin to build lives in US communities, have families and in cases that they qualify for work permits, start jobs.

http://pix11.com/2018/03/29/ice-paves-way-to-detain-more-pregnant-immigrants/

Oh yes, detain or deport. Preferably deport them immediately. Get all these pregnant women out of here. They don't need to fly, they can take the bus. Most of them are from Mexico or Central America, just put 'em on a bus with a locked tracking bracelet and make sure it gets into Mexico.

Pregnant women travel all the time, all over the World.

Women are raped and abused in our country EVERY day! Not a reason to stay here.

Hand them all over into the care and custody of THEIR country and they can provide detention and medical care on THEIR soil.




DO NOT DETAIN THEM. PROCESS THEM AND GET THEM OUT OF HERE QUICKLY!

THEY ARE A PUBLIC CHARGE AND COST US A FORTUNE, THEY ARE HERE TO GET ON THE GRAVY TRAIN. NO MORE!!!

PUT THEM ON A BUS OR A TRAIN AND DEPORT THEM WITHIN 24 HOURS

THEY TRAVELLED HERE ON FOOT THROUGH RUGGED TERRAIN, PAID COYOTES, THEY LIE! THEY CAN CERTAINLY TAKE A NICE BUS RIDE OUT OF HERE!

WE ARE NOT THE DUMPING GROUND FOR THE WORLD AND WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBILE FOR THEIR MATERNITY CARE OR THEIR CHILDREN!

IF THEY ARE IN DISTRESS...HAVE THE MEXICAN AMBULANCE MEET AT THE BORDER AND HAND THEM OVER!