U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested a nursing mother from her Nashville home without a warrant, according to a complaint by immigrant advocates.
ICE agents have a directive not to arrest people who are pregnant, post-partum or nursing “except under exceptional circumstances.” The complaint alleges that ICE broke that directive when they arrested the woman, separating her from her infant daughter and toddler.
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Since her arrest in May, she has been transferred nearly 700 miles from Nashville to the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center, according to a redacted version of the complaint obtained by WPLN News.
Her detention has caused medical complications for her baby, who is still breast-feeding, her two-year-old with Down syndrome who hasn’t been able to see a doctor and for the mother herself, who has diabetes.
In an email to WPLN News, a DHS spokesperson said that ICE rarely has nursing or pregnant detainees, but when it does, they receive regular prenatal visits, mental health services and “nutritional support.”
“This is the best healthcare many of these individuals have received in their entire lives,” DHS said.
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The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, the ACLU of Louisiana and other immigrant rights groups filed the complaint to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, calling for the mother’s immediate release. TIRRC has referred to her as Maria Perez, a pseudonym to protect her safety while in ICE detention.
Perez came to the U.S. in 2022, seeking asylum from domestic violence in Guatemala.
“Her case demonstrates the extraordinary cruelty these agencies inflict on people every day,” said Spring Miller, TIRRC Senior Director of Legal Strategy. “We demand the immediate release of Ms. Perez to her children and condemn the countless ways ICE and DHS continue to separate families across the country.”
In a release, TIRRC said that Perez has no criminal history. DHS contends that she has previous charges for “for falsely claiming US citizenship.”
Update: This story has been updated with comment from DHS.
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