Press Release: 9/18/2025
Markey Joins Murray, Blumenthal, Colleagues in Demanding Information from DHS on Mistreatment of Pregnant Women in ICE Detention
Senate Judiciary Committee report: Trump Administration appears to have ended presumption of release, is detaining more and more pregnant women in facilities ill-equipped to manage their well-being and safety;
Washington (September 18, 2025) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today joined Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee, and Senator Blumenthal (D-CT), a member of the Judiciary Committee, and 26 of their Senate colleagues in a new letter expressing grave concerns about the prevalence and treatment of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention. In their letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the lawmakers urgently requested that ICE stop detaining pregnant women absent exceptional circumstances, and asked the Department to provide information about the number of pregnant women in its custody and the treatment of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women who are in ICE detention—as well as answers to a long list of additional oversight questions no later than September 26th.
A Government Accountability Office (GAO) study published in 2020 found that between 2016 and 2018, ICE detained pregnant women over 4,600 times. As Congress increased its oversight into the detention of pregnant women, that number dropped to just 158 pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women detained in the first half of Fiscal Year 2024. After President Trump took office this year, the Administration stopped providing reports to Congress on the number of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in their custody.
“We write to express grave concerns about the prevalence and treatment of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention. A recent Senate Judiciary Committee site visit and media reports point to the alarming detention of a significant number of pregnant women in ICE custody. We urgently request that ICE cease detaining pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women absent exceptional circumstances and that the agency provide information about the number and treatment of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in its custody,” the senators wrote.
In their letter, the senators referenced reporting on 911 calls recorded from ICE facilities involving pregnant women in “distress, bleeding or suffering severe pain,” as well as a recent Senate Judiciary Committee staff visit to the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, LA that found 14 pregnant women—a shockingly large number—detained at the time of the visit, with many of them receiving little to no medical care.
“Medical research links ICE detention to high rates of pregnancy complications, with physicians finding serious risks to both fetal and maternal health. These already serious risks are heightened by the deteriorating conditions inside detention facilities, including severe overcrowding, reports of inadequate food and water, and lack of emergency medical care,” the senators continued. “At this time, we do not know how many pregnant women are in ICE custody, whether U.S. citizen babies have been born in ICE custody, and what provisions have been made for mothers’ and children’s health, safety, and wellbeing.”
“ICE’s own standards are unambiguous on the detention, monitoring, and treatment of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in detention. ICE Directive 11032.4, Identification and Monitoring of Pregnant, Postpartum, or Nursing Individuals (2021 Pregnancy Directive), states that ICE should not detain pregnant, postpartum, or nursing individuals except under very limited circumstances,” the senators wrote. “If detention of these individuals is deemed absolutely necessary, the directive provides detailed requirements for ensuring that they are monitored closely, kept in suitable facilities, and given access to both routine and emergency health care… Given the urgent nature of pregnant women’s health and safety needs, we request that you ensure all detention facilities are in full compliance with current law and the 2021 Pregnancy Directive.”
“In defiance of medical evidence counseling against their detention, ICE is horrifically detaining pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in conditions that compromise their physical and mental health,” said Jennifer Ibañez Whitlock, Senior Policy Counsel for the National Immigration Law Center. “It is clear that ICE is ill-prepared to meet even the minimum healthcare and safety standards for pregnant women in their custody. The National Immigration Law Center calls on Secretary Noem to immediately halt the detention of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women, resume transparent reporting, and ensure full compliance with federal law and agency directives. The health and dignity of these women must no longer be compromised.”
"U.S. policy makes clear that pregnant, postpartum, and lactating women should not be detained — yet ICE continues to ignore these protections," said Zain Lakhani, Director of Migrant Rights and Justice at the Women’s Refugee Commission. "We continue to hear reports of pregnant women being held in dangerous conditions without adequate food or medical care, putting their health and lives at risk. These harms are occurring in a black box, where we know precious little about immigrant women’s access to healthcare and nutrition. We thank Senators Murray and Blumenthal for demanding that the Department of Homeland Security end this inhumane practice and call for vital transparency around their access to services. Together we must shine a light on detention conditions and ensure these women and their babies are treated with safety, dignity, and humanity."
The following 26 senators also signed onto the letter to Secretary Noem: Michael Bennet (D-CO), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NM), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).