Thread: NC: Jail won't let IA inmate pump breast milk for infant

Another immigration sob story. And, of course, the activists are telling the police what they should do:

Jail won't let inmate pump milk for infant
MELISSA MANWARE
mmanware@charlotteobserver.com

Danielle Souza FerreiraA Brazilian woman, held in the Mecklenburg County jail since Friday on an immigration violation, is not being allowed to provide breast milk for her son, who is less than 2 months old.

Ezequiel Oliveira, who is helping care for the woman's two children, said he spent hours at the jail Monday trying to get a breast pump to 29-year-old Danielle Ferreira. He said Ferreira's baby, Samuel, is crying incessantly and keeps spitting up baby formula.

"We give him formula and put in the pacifier but he is crying day and night, day and night, all the time," Oliveira said.

Jail officials say they can't discuss conversations inmates have with medical staff, but are aware of the situation. In general, spokeswoman Julia Rush said, inmates are not allowed to express milk without a court order. She said mothers are treated for symptoms when they must abruptly stop nursing.

Just this month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement formally adopted guidelines that allow pregnant women or nursing mothers to be released under supervised conditions.

Ferreira, who was originally jailed on a shoplifting charge, is in the jail on an immigration hold, meaning she will be turned over to immigration officials once her state charge is dispensed.

She was arrested Friday at Eastland Mall, and her children were with her, Oliveira said.

Ferreira's brother hid a CD or DVD in her baby stroller without her knowledge, according to Oliveira, and the two were arrested on a misdemeanor shoplifting charge as they walked out of a store. Oliveira said he got a call from police saying he needed to pick up the baby, Samuel, and his 2-year-old brother, Daniel, or they would be turned over to the Mecklenburg Department of Social Services.

Ferreira doesn't have any relatives in the area, except for her brother who is also in jail, Oliveira said. She planned to return to Brazil next month and already had airline tickets for herself, her brother and her two children, he said. She was going to stay in Brazil, he added, so that her mother and other family members could help her raise her children, who were born in the United States.

Ferreira came to this country on a visa and was supposed to return to Brazil by April 2005, according to Rush. Ferreira would have been sent to Atlanta for a deportation hearing by now, Rush said, but signed a waiver saying she wants to return to her native country without a hearing.

Rush said the jail staff plans to meet with Ferreira on Tuesday to make sure she understands the waiver and to let her know how to contact the consulate if she wants to take her children to Brazil with her.

Oliveira, who is Ferreira's pastor and also from Brazil, said he saw her on Sunday and she complained of a fever and soreness in her breasts because she hasn't been allowed to express milk. He said Samuel doesn't seem to feel well, has a rash and spits up every time he drinks formula.

Angeles Ortega-Moore, executive director of the Latin American Coalition, said she has heard before of nursing moms not being allowed to express milk while in the Mecklenburg jail.

"That seems to be inhumane for anyone whether they are in this country legally or not. Experts will tell you this is a very difficult time for a mom to be separated from her baby," said Ortega-Moore. "Regardless of what the mom has done, we are putting the health of a young child at risk."

Latino activist Maudia Melendez had not heard about Ferreira until she was contacted by the Observer late Monday. She said she plans to call the sheriff and immigration officials Tuesday to ask them to reunite the mother and baby.

"They should let her go for humanitarian reasons. Let her pay her fine (on the state charge) and give her a court date in Atlanta (for the immigration violation)," Melendez said. "We are talking about a baby. It doesn't make any sense."
http://www.charlotte.com/109/story/379731.html

If she intends on continuing to nurse the baby, she can express her milk manually into a sink or toilet or what have you so it doesn't dry up.

If the infant is having such a hard time feeding, then the caregiver should switch it to a different formula.

This is common sense to someone who already has another child.

SOB STORY ALERT

Woman jailed on immigration charge released to nurse son

Associated Press - November 27, 2007 8:25 PM ET

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - A Brazilian woman who was jailed for an immigration violation has been released from custody to return home to nurse her 2-month-old son.

Immigration officials released Danielle Ferreira until her court date, and a judge unsecured the $500 bond on a shoplifting charge.

When Ferreira was booked into the jail on the shoplifting charge, detention officers learned that her visa expired in April 2005.

Before her release, those taking care of the infant said he was crying incessantly and continually spitting up baby formula.

Earlier this month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement formally adopted guidelines that allow pregnant or nursing women to be released under supervised conditions.

Spokeswoman Julia Rush said jail officials did not know about the new federal guidelines for nursing women until late Monday night.

http://www.wavy.com/Global/story.asp?S=7417940