吃瓜直播

Recently, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued new requiring baby bassinets and 鈥渟nacks鈥� to be available to infants and people who are pregnant, postpartum, or nursing in CBP detention. Neither are of comfort in 鈥� freezing cold, overcrowded holding cells notorious for their harsh conditions. And none of the added features included in the new policy can compensate for the physical and emotional strain of CBP detention conditions on people who are pregnant, postpartum, or nursing their newborns.

Though highly anticipated, CBP鈥檚 guidance falls embarrassingly short and will do little to address the well-documented of pregnant people in the agency鈥檚 custody. The new guidance demonstrates that instead of moving away from detaining these uniquely vulnerable populations altogether, CBP is attempting to double down on unnecessary and dangerous detention practices.

In January 2020, the 吃瓜直播 of San Diego & Imperial Counties (吃瓜直播-SDIC) and the 吃瓜直播 of Texas filed a with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security鈥檚 Office of the Inspector General (OIG) calling for an immediate review of mistreatment of pregnant people detained in CBP facilities. Such mistreatment regularly imperiled the viability of pregnancies, even sometimes resulting in miscarriage. Nancy, one mother interviewed by the 吃瓜直播-SDIC, reported:

鈥�...that the food she received was spoiled and served cold; she could not bring herself to eat it 鈥� [she] had been taken into custody in wet and mud-covered clothing, [and] was neither permitted a change of clothing nor provided a chance to shower for the duration of her detention.鈥�

In April 2020, 吃瓜直播-SDIC filed a subsequent on behalf of a pregnant woman who suffered mistreatment at the Chula Vista Border Patrol Station. After arresting her for routine processing, instead of facilitating her immediate access to critical medical care, CBP officers subjected her to a 鈥渞ough ride鈥� to a Border Patrol station, 鈥渏erk[ing] the steering wheel and slamm[ing] on the brakes.鈥� Her experience only deteriorated inside the station, where she was forced to give birth while holding onto a trash can for support. The woman reported:

鈥淗er husband heard the baby鈥檚 cries and, desperate to ensure the safety of his newborn child, lowered his wife鈥檚 pants and reached for the baby鈥檚 head, which was protruding out of her body. A Border Patrol agent and multiple medical staff also reached for the baby, some without gloves, and the baby was born. Although joyous about the birth of her child, [she] felt humiliated after realizing she had been surrounded by about 20 strangers, including multiple CBP agents and other unknown detained men, while she gave birth.鈥�

The woman was finally taken to a hospital after she gave birth. After she was discharged, however, Border Patrol forced her to return to the Chula Vista Border Patrol Station for a night of postpartum detention together with her newborn baby.

In response to the complaint on behalf of the woman who gave birth at the Chula Vista Border Patrol Station, the OIG issued a in July 2021 finding a number of deficiencies in the manner in which CBP and Border Patrol respond to in-custody births. The OIG recommended that CBP 鈥渆xpedite releases because holding U.S. citizen newborns at Border Patrol stations poses health, safety, and legal concerns.鈥� Eleven senators to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas urging DHS to adopt a policy similar to one that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) earlier this year, which states that 鈥淸g]enerally, ICE should not detain, arrest, or take into custody鈥� people who are 鈥渒nown to be pregnant, postpartum, and/or nursing.鈥� Instead of heeding the senators鈥� recommendations and following ICE鈥檚 lead on this issue, CBP has chosen a path of further detention, entrenching a practice that jeopardizes the safety and well-being of people like the 吃瓜直播-SDIC鈥檚 client and her newborn baby.

Among other things, CBP鈥檚 new guidance purports to improve access to medical care and basic items like snacks, liquids, and diapers in hieleras; conditions under which parents can nurse and change diapers in hieleras; and documentation of childbirths in hieleras. But it fails to address the fundamental problem that CBP detention in hieleras threatens the health and dignity of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing people and their newborns, and that a humane alternative exists. The risks of CBP detention that the new guidance purports to mitigate, including limited access to medical care, inadequate care for infants, and inconsistent documentation of in-custody births, could be prevented altogether if CBP instead prioritized the prompt release of people who are pregnant, postpartum, or nursing. This would avoid the possibility of in-custody births of U.S. citizen babies and alleviate the need to accommodate postpartum and nursing parents.

The July 2021 OIG report included images of the 吃瓜直播-SDIC鈥檚 client laying down on a concrete bench in a hielera with her newborn U.S. citizen baby wrapped in an aluminum blanket for warmth. CBP鈥檚 response to this disturbing image was to suggest adding a bassinet for the baby and to offer snacks and milk.

Our demand in response is simple: CBP must stop detaining pregnant, postpartum, and nursing people altogether by prioritizing their prompt release to their networks of care in the United States, so that these individuals may pursue their immigration cases in safe and humane conditions.