Earlier this month, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and partners sent a letter to government officials detailing abuse and neglect of pregnant women in ICE detention facilities. 

One woman, using the pseudonym Alicia, described a harrowing ordeal. After her detention at a routine ICE check-in appointment in April, Alicia was given only minimal portions of substandard food. In May, she began to experience severe pain and bleeding. She was taken to an emergency room, where medical personnel performed an invasive test on her uterus and gave her an unknown medication. None of the treatment was explained to her, she said. She was then told that she had a miscarriage.

Sarah Decker, our U.S. senior staff attorney, described her heartbreaking interview with Alicia: “[Alicia] was crying the entire time that we spoke. She appeared extremely traumatized because of what happened to her in the hospital.”

Read more about Alicia’s story here.