Legislation would provide permanent safeguards for pregnant and postpartum women in ICE and CBP custody; Biden administration policy discourages shackling of pregnant women in ICE custody but does not extend same protections to pregnant individuals in CBP custody
Washington (November 8, 2023) – Snator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) joined Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), and Congresswoman Sylvia R. Garcia (TX-29), who led 22 Senators and 14 House members, in reintroducing their Stop Shackling and Detaining Pregnant Women Act. The legislation will protect the health and safety of pregnant, postpartum, and lactating people in immigration detention by establishing a presumption of release, prohibiting any agency under the Department of Homeland Security from shackling pregnant women in its custody—including those in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—and setting new standards of care and transparency for the treatment of pregnant women and youth.
“Shackling pregnant women in ICE and CBP custody is pointless and deeply inhumane—and we know it can cause miscarriage, dangerous pregnancy complications, and inflict other physical and mental trauma on vulnerable women,” said Senator Murray. “There is simply no justifiable reason for this cruel policy. While the Biden administration has taken important steps to protect pregnant women in ICE custody, these protections are still limited and could be reversed immediately by the next administration—which is why now is the time to make them permanent. I am proud to join my friend Rep. Garcia in reintroducing this important legislation and continuing to raise our voices and keep the pressure up to prevent the cruel mistreatment of pregnant women in immigration detention.”
“No mother should ever know the indignity or the pain of having her legs shackled during labor. That our government would continue to detain and shackle pregnant mothers should bring great shame on us all,” said Congresswoman Garcia. “I’m proud to re-introduce this bill with these women in mind, and I sincerely thank Senator Murray for being its Senate champion. I will not stop until these mothers and their babies are protected by federal law.”
In 2021, President Joe Biden announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers generally would not detain or arrest people who are pregnant, nursing, or postpartum (had a baby within the previous year), unless their release is prohibited by law or “exceptional circumstances.” The policy also prohibited the use of restraints on women who are in active labor or delivery. This policy reversed the Trump administration’s decision—widely panned by human rights organizations—to end the policy of presumed release of pregnant women and youth in immigration detention. But the current Biden administration protections for undocumented pregnant and postpartum women could disappear under a future administration. Additionally, the Biden administration policy only applies to ICE and does not apply to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), meaning that CBP can—and does—still use physical restraints on pregnant women who are taken into custody at ports of entry, such as the southern border, until they are out of custody once again. There is a well-documented pattern of mistreatment of pregnant women in CBP custody; Senator Murray and Congresswoman Garcia’s legislation would provide vital, codified safeguards that do not currently exist for pregnant women in CBP custody were it to pass into law.
“Shackling and denying medical attention to pregnant detainees is a cruel and hazardous practice that puts pregnancies at risk. Restraining pregnant people anytime increases their potential for physical harm,” said Eunice Cho, Senior Staff Attorney at the ACLU National Prison Project. “We must end this inhumane practice. All people, regardless of their immigration status, deserve to be treated with dignity and to have access to safe and adequate reproductive health care.”
“Every pregnant person, regardless of their immigration status, deserves dignity and respect,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “The inhumane policies that allow pregnant immigrants to be detained, shackled, or denied the care that they need are unacceptable and unthinkable. Pregnancy is oftentimes a vulnerable state for people and treating them under those conditions further jeopardizes their health. This legislation is long overdue.”
The legislation was first introduced in the Senate during the 115th Congress in light of reports of mistreatment of pregnant women in ICE custody and was reintroduced in 2019—on the heels of a Washington Post report about a woman in ICE custody whose pregnancy ended in a stillbirth after she went into labor prematurely—and again in 2021.
The Stop Shackling and Detaining Pregnant Women Act is supported by The American Civil Liberties Union, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Anti-Defamation League, Center for Reproductive Rights, Church World Service, MomsRising, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, National Women’s Law Center, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America).
In the Senate, the legislation is cosponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawai'i), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
In the House, the legislation is cosponsored by Representatives Troy Carter (LA-02), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Diana Degette (CO-01), Jesús “Chuy” Garcia (IL-04), Raúl Grijalva (AZ-07), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Shiela Jackson Lee (TX-18), Hank Johnson (GA-04), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37), Barbara Lee (CA- 12), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12).
A one-pager on the legislation is HERE.
The full text of the legislation is HERE.
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