Underage pregnant migrants are being detained and moved to a Texas shelter where abortion is illegal

Donald Trump’s management is concentrating each pregnant children being held successful national immigration enforcement custody into 1 group shelter successful southbound Texas, a authorities wherever abortion is outlawed pinch nary exceptions for survivors of rape aliases incest.

Since past summer, much than a twelve pregnant minors, immoderate arsenic young arsenic 13 years old, person been moved to a installation successful San Benito on nan U.S.-Mexico border, according to a joint investigation by The Texas Newsroom and The California Newsroom, citing sources wrong nan Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) wrong nan Department of Health and Human Services.

The agency is responsible for children who entered nan United States without a genitor aliases ineligible guardian aliases who were separated from their families by migration authorities.

Their detention astatine nan Texas installation deviates from longstanding national policy, which has typically placed unaccompanied minors into ORR shelters aliases foster homes that tin grip high-risk pregnancies.

But ineligible advocates and attraction providers fearfulness nan management has concentrated those girls into a poorly equipped Texas shelter, moreover if they were detained successful different states, to guarantee they are denied entree to abortion care.

“It’s not a coincidence that nan Trump management is sending young pregnant girls to beryllium detained successful a authorities wherever abortion is banned,” according to Liz Wagner, elder national argumentation counsel for nan Center for Reproductive Rights.

“It’s beyond sadistic to trap these girls — immoderate who are victims of intersexual battle — successful a authorities wherever they person nary prime complete whether to stay pregnant and go mothers,” she told The Independent. “Everyone deserves nan correct to make these basal decisions for themselves.”

The installation has been operated by contractor Urban Strategies since December 2021.

Between January 2021 and January 2025, astatine slightest 136 pregnant unaccompanied children were detained there, The Independent has learned.

In July, ORR’s acting head Angie Salazar — a erstwhile Immigration and Customs Enforcement charismatic — instructed ORR to spot “any pregnant children into nan San Benito programme moving forward,” according to an email obtained by media outlets.

“It is imperative that each children successful attraction are afforded entree to high-quality healthcare services, which includes reproductive wellness services,” said Wendy Young, president of Kids In Need of Defense, which provides support for unaccompanied children.

“Pregnant and parenting younker person unsocial needs and vulnerabilities and should ne'er beryllium prevented from accessing aliases requesting healthcare services,” she told The Independent. “Policy choices designed to thwart specified access, including by perchance transferring children to accommodation aliases locations pinch constricted services, airs sedate danger.”

ORR “works to guarantee nan safety, well-being, and due attraction of each unaccompanied alien children successful its custody,” nan agency said successful a connection to The Independent.

The agency “follows kid use champion practices to spot each child, including those who are pregnant aliases parenting, successful nan slightest restrictive and astir integrated mounting that meets nan child’s champion liking and circumstantial needs,” according to ORR.

President Joe Biden’s management directed ORR to move girls who wanted to extremity their pregnancies to accommodation successful states wherever abortion entree was still ineligible successful nan aftermath of nan 2022 Supreme Court determination that overturned Roe v Wade and opened nan floodgates for anti-abortion states to contradict entree to care.

But aft Trump returned to nan White House, he issued an executive bid to “to extremity nan forced usage of national payer dollars to money aliases beforehand elective abortion,” and nan Department of Justice wished that nan authorities cannot move detainees from 1 authorities aliases different to facilitate abortion access, isolated from successful cases of rape aliases incest aliases to prevention nan life of nan pregnant patient.

Last month, ORR submitted a proposal to revoke nan Biden-era argumentation altogether.

The number of pregnant, postpartum and nursing women successful ICE custody is unclear, though information from reporting, lawsuits and legislature reports suggests dozens were detained by migration authorities wrong nan past year.

That fig should beryllium zero; ICE’s soul argumentation states that nan agency “should not detain, arrest, aliases return into custody for an administrative usurpation of nan migration laws individuals known to beryllium pregnant, postpartum, aliases nursing” isolated from successful exceptional circumstances.

Women person reported being denied prenatal attraction and a deficiency of entree to basal items including bosom pumps and capable nutrient and water, each while being shackled, handcuffed and separated from their families and children.

Lawsuits from pregnant women seeking their merchandise from ICE detention routinely look connected tribunal dockets.

Last month, a national judge successful Minnesota rebuked nan administration’s detention of a legally admitted exile who was still breastfeeding her five-month-old.

“There is thing peculiarly craven astir transferring a nursing exile mother out-of-state,” wrote District Judge Michael Davis, who said nan mother “lost important bonding and nursing clip pinch her baby” owed to a detention he had already deemed illegal.

Last week, in Texas, a female who said she was forcefully removed from her car and arrested astatine gunpoint past period earlier she was sent to an El Paso detention halfway was granted a proceeding to situation her threat of removal from nan country. She is 5 months pregnant.

And in Louisiana, a judge denied nan merchandise of an asylum-seeking female who was arrested successful Massachusetts successful December. She is 14 weeks pregnant.

ICE has moved much than 400 children into ORR shelters since Trump returned to nan White House, launching what advocates who said to The Independent person called an “unprecedented” return of Trump’s notorious family separation argumentation by targeting families who person lived successful nan United States for years.

Advocates fearfulness those arrests are forcing parents to make intolerable decisions that person ripped isolated households.

Homeland Security officials person many times insisted that nan management is not splitting up families, and that deported parents person nan action to either time off pinch their children aliases spot them pinch a guardian successful nan United States.