With record numbers of border crossings, a civil rights organization has launched a campaign to stop the detention of pregnant women. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has launched a petition expressing its concern about the testimony given by several women who have suffered terrible experiences.
The organization — along with 136 additional advocacy groups and medical professionals — has urged CBP to expedite the intake proceedings for women and others who are pregnant, postpartum or nursing as well as infants.
In one of the cases described in the document, “one 27-year-old Guatemalan woman said she had no other option but to give birth while holding a garbage can at a Southern California Border Patrol station. A Nicaraguan mother said agents denied her 6 -month-old son medical care while he suffered from respiratory problems that caused pneumonia.”
Meanwhile, this past year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which handles immigration enforcement in the interior of the U.S., revised its own policy. New guidelines call for the agency to no longer detain, arrest or take into custody those who are pregnant, postpartum or nursing except in rare circumstances.
CBP declined to comment on the ACLU’s accusations, but told NPR it offers a spectrum of services and support for people who are pregnant, postpartum or nursing in detention facilities.
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