Families Torn Apart: Report Details ICE Failures in Deportations
A new report is shining a harsh light on what advocates are calling devastating policy failures by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the United States. The findings suggest that ICE is not adhering to its own protocols regarding the care and documentation of children belonging to individuals facing deportation, leading to distressing situations for both parents and their offspring.
One 22-year-old woman, who was five months pregnant at the time, recounted her experience of being deported to Honduras. She claims she never had the opportunity to inform Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) about her two-year-old daughter, whom she was forced to leave behind. “They didn’t ask me anything,” she stated, as detailed in a recent report from the Women’s Refugee Commission and Physicians for Human Rights. “They didn’t talk to me, only to yell at me, to humiliate.”
Similarly, an 11-year-old son was left behind by his 27-year-old mother, who was arrested at a traffic light. She alleges that immigration officers never inquired about her children or whether she could arrange for her son to accompany her during her deportation.
The report asserts that ICE has fallen short of its own policies, which mandate that officers question individuals they arrest about their children to ensure they have the chance to decide their fate during deportation proceedings.
Zain Lakhani, director of migrant rights and justice for the Women’s Refugee Commission, described the “devastating” human cost of these alleged policy shortcomings. These failures have resulted in children being left without warning, while pregnant and postpartum mothers are reportedly denied adequate medical care.
The landscape of how ICE handles families has reportedly shifted significantly, particularly since a revision to Biden-era guidelines for detained parents made last summer under the Donald Trump administration. Previously, deported parents had the option to decide if their children would join them. However, under the revised policy, ICE will only support such arrangements if they are deemed “operationally feasible.”
Despite this, ICE is still purportedly required to ascertain if individuals they arrest have children and “must allow those parents to decide what happens to their children if they are deported, even if they are not required to help facilitate choice,” according to the report. As ICE encounters an increasing number of immigrant families, rights groups suggest the administration may be leveraging apparent threats of family separation to pressure individuals into abandoning their immigration cases and leaving the country voluntarily.
Parents Left Scrambling Amidst Deportation
The Women’s Refugee Commission and Physicians for Human Rights conducted interviews with recently deported parents in Honduras over a five-day period in November. They also spoke with physicians and staff at a reception centre that has provided care for hundreds of deportees.
Across numerous interviews, parents consistently reported being arrested without being asked about their children or their safety. Over half of the parents interviewed stated that ICE never inquired about their children at any stage of their arrest, detention, or removal process. Some parents claimed they were prevented from speaking when attempting to provide this information, or were completely ignored.
This leaves parents in a precarious position, forced to hastily arrange short-term care for their children, potentially exposing them to vulnerable or dangerous situations. One mother of four, whose husband had also been deported, shared that her children were left unattended until their grandmother could travel to another state to collect them.
Another father, arrested as he was leaving his home, informed the arresting agents that his three-year-old daughter was inside with a babysitter. “They just kept yelling at me to get on the ground,” he recounted. “I tried to get away but they threw me to the ground and wouldn’t let me say anything. They beat me really badly.” The babysitter reportedly remained with his daughter for 11 days.
In other distressing cases, individuals were reportedly deported with their U.S. citizen children, whom they had hoped to leave behind to continue receiving critical medical treatment unavailable in their home countries. Physicians reported instances of children being deported mid-treatment for severe medical conditions. One child was deported midway through a series of surgeries for a severe form of spina bifida, while another was undergoing essential post-operative care following the removal of a kidney due to cancer.
Dr. Michele Heisler, medical director at Physicians for Human Rights and professor of internal medicine and public health at the University of Michigan, expressed grave concern, stating, “It is unconscionable that the U.S. government is inflicting these abuses once again on families, even after the well-documented harms caused by separations under the first Trump administration’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy.”
Pregnant and Postpartum Mothers Face Critical Health Risks
The alleged policy failures under the Trump administration are also reported to have had severe consequences for pregnant and postpartum immigrants. These individuals have been detained and deported without adequate medical care and have been separated from their infants.
As of February 16, there were 121 pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in ICE detention, according to information provided by Homeland Security to Democratic Senator Patty Murray. Between January 1, 2025, and February 16, ICE reportedly deported 363 pregnant, postpartum, or nursing women.
Researchers in Honduras encountered three women who were visibly pregnant and four women with infants under one year old. All four postpartum women had been separated from their babies, including one infant as young as two months old. Many of these women arrived in “acute emotional distress, including uncontrollable crying and visible panic,” according to the report. “Many had had no contact with their children or their caregivers for days or weeks.”
One medical worker described the case of a 25-year-old woman, approximately 13 weeks pregnant, who began bleeding after her arrest. She reportedly received no medical attention from ICE and was deported while still actively bleeding. Upon arrival in Honduras, she was in an emergency condition and required immediate transfer to hospital care.
In another concerning incident reported by medical workers, a 40-year-old woman was deported without medical care for nearly two weeks after experiencing a missed miscarriage. This condition, where a fetus remains inside the uterus, carries a high risk of infection and potentially life-threatening complications. She was deported 10 days after her diagnosis and received no care while in custody, leading to her immediate hospitalization upon arrival in Honduras.
One woman recounted being handcuffed by ICE while attending a gynaecologist appointment, stating, “like I was a criminal,” she told researchers.
Pregnant and postpartum women frequently arrived in Honduras without any clinical records or medical information. This lack of documentation made it difficult to ascertain what, if any, care they received while in U.S. custody. A doctor in Honduras informed researchers, “The main problem is the lack of information received about pregnant patients. There is no clarity about examinations, check-ups, or medical history. The authorities only provide a sheet with general information.”
A spokesperson for Homeland Security has stated that pregnancy in ICE detention is “exceedingly rare.” The spokesperson also noted that “There have been no births in ICE custody under the Trump administration. Pregnant women receive regular prenatal visits, mental health services, nutritional support, and accommodations aligned with community standards of care.”
DHS has consistently defended the level of care provided to immigrants in custody, asserting it is “the best healthcare many of these individuals have received in their entire lives.” The spokesperson further elaborated that facilities provide “pregnancy services such as pregnancy testing, routine or specialized prenatal care, postpartum follow-up, and nursing services” in addition to the required medical, mental health, and dental services. Pregnant deportees are reportedly “evaluated and medically cleared for travel before removal,” and ICE will provide medical records upon request.
