A Honduran migrant who was apprehended at the border in Texas and was set to be released last week delivered a stillborn baby late last week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Monday.
ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a joint statement that the 24-year-old woman was apprehended on Feb. 18 near Hidalgo, Texas. The agencies said the woman initially reported she was six months pregnant.
By Feb. 22, the woman was set to be released by ICE, but started complaining of abdominal pain. She was examined by the ICE Health Service Corps.
“The clinical director was called and ordered that she be sent to the hospital,” the agencies said. “EMS was called. At that time, she conveyed that the baby was coming.”
“She went into premature labor, at 27 weeks pregnant, and delivered an unresponsive male infant,” they added. “IHSC initiated CPR and EMS transported them both to the Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen, Texas, where the infant was later pronounced dead.”
Democrats have been angry for months at the Trump administration’s tougher border policy, and have called for investigations into the treatment of children and families there. ICE and CBP said they were publicizing the incident in order to be “transparent with Congress, the media and the public.”
The agencies said the Honduran woman is still in ICE custody and will be released after receiving medical clearance.
