Federal Judges Slam ICE Over Treatment of Pregnant, Nursing Detainees

Federal judges in the United States are raising concerns about the treatment and safety of pregnant and nursing women held in facilities operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Reports of breastfeeding mothers being separated from their infants, along with overcrowded and unsanitary conditions for pregnant detainees, have intensified scrutiny of detention facilities under Donald Trump's administration.

According to The Mirror, some facilities are so poorly equipped that women have reportedly suffered miscarriages while in detention. Other pregnant women are reportedly skipping prenatal care because they fear being detained by ICE.

A three-month-pregnant Indian woman reported losing 90 pounds while detained at an ICE facility. A mother from Myanmar said her newborn was separated from her before she transferred to a detention center in Texas.

A six-month-pregnant woman from Massachusetts was admitted to the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center after being held at an ICE facility for three days, which placed her health at risk. Although Benvinda Semedo was released from ICE custody on February 17, she remained hospitalized because of health complications.

In another case, a federal judge in Wisconsin questioned the administration about why ta breastfeeding mother of a six-month-old infant was detained. The White House said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was “unable to identify” a justification for continuing her detention.

Earlier a legal refugee was detained and transferred to Texas while she was nursing her five-month-old at home. “There is something particularly craven about transferring a nursing refugee mother out-of-state,” U.S. District Judge Michael Davis wrote.

Davis said in court that the mother “lost important bonding and nursing time with her baby” during what he described as an unlawful detention given her protected status and legal entry. He ordered her immediate release.

U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware also ordered the release of a woman with a high-risk pregnancy. He said the detention violated the 2021 policy that generally bars federal immigration authorities from detaining pregnant and nursing immigrants.

A Biden-era policy implemented on July 1, 2021, instructs ICE not to detain, arrest, or take into custody individuals known to be pregnant, postpartum, or nursing, unless “release is prohibited by law or exceptional circumstances exist.”

ICE has declined to answer whether the policy is still being applied.

According to The Mirror, a Justice Department attorney told a federal judge in August that an executive order signed on January 20, 2025, authorizing mass deportations had effectively overridden existing law.

Another government attorney later said in February 2026 that the policy was still in force, raising uncertainty over whether the administration plans to comply with health-related immigration detention guidelines.