A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) vehicle is parked in front of an ICE processing facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Ill., Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
As Illinois continues to be the target of aggressive federal immigration operations, among reports of more than 1,000 people being arrested so far, limited information has been shared about ICE detainees who are pregnant.

A nonprofit group helping women in crisis is working to change it. The Women’s Refugee Commission created the Detention Pregnancy Tracker to collect real-time information about pregnant, postpartum and nursing women detained by ICE. A current policy restricts the agency from arresting immigrants who are pregnant or postpartum except in extraordinary circumstances.

Melanie Nezer, vice president of advocacy and external relations for the commission, said ongoing reports indicate the policy is not being followed.

“We have learned that women are miscarrying in detention, that women are not getting the nutrition that they need for healthy pregnancies and that they are showing up after being deported, malnourished,” Nezer reported. “That’s a huge concern.”

ICE officials have said pregnant women are “housed in facilities to receive proper care while in custody.” But despite filing Freedom of Information Act requests, Nezer said the agency has not shared the data her group is asking for. So, they’re working with health care providers and lawyers to collect information, and urging anyone with knowledge about pregnant people in detention to submit reports online using the tracker.

Nezer pointed out commission staff had to travel to Mexico and Central America to speak with women who had recently been deported to learn more about the conditions they’re facing in U.S. detention. She noted it is bad enough to be detained during pregnancy, and is especially concerned about the government’s lack of transparency about their treatment.

“We have a right to know how women are being treated in this country,” Nezer asserted. “If there are abuses, if there are harms, we need to know that so we can start to fix the problem because I would assume that everybody of good faith and good conscience would want pregnant women to get the care they need to have healthy babies.”

Nezer pointed out they are still in the early stages of collecting and analyzing data and are working to obtain consent from the people affected to share their stories. She added they are advocating to end the detention of anyone who is pregnant or nursing, or at least to see that they receive the proper care.

“It’s really kind of horrifying to think that women are miscarrying in immigration detention alone, without any care,” Nezer observed. “That should not be happening in our country.”