This story was originally reported by Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and republished through Rewire News Group‘s partnership with the 19th News Network.

Amanda Isabel Fanego Cardoso was about 11 weeks pregnant when she was detained in September 2025, then transferred between five immigration facilities over several months. Because her medical care was so limited, she said, it was only after her release in February 2026 that she learned she had developed potentially life-threatening pregnancy-related conditions. 

Cecil Elvir-Quinonez was about eight weeks pregnant and still breastfeeding her 5-month-old when she was detained in January 2026. She received emergency room care on Jan. 6, 2026, after experiencing heavy bleeding and cramps in federal custody. The next day, she was transferred to a detention facility in Louisiana, where, though her bleeding continued, she received no follow-up medical attention or prenatal visits, according to her family.

A pregnant woman in Minnesota was pulled over by immigration officials on her way to work in January. 2026 While detained, she developed abdominal pain, according to her lawyer. She, her husband and two children were sent to a Texas detention facility that did not have an OB-GYN on staff. A nurse she saw took her blood pressure, but did not do anything to address the stomach pain, said her lawyer, who asked that The 19th not name her or her client, who fears retaliation for speaking about her experience in detention.

Marianela Leon Espinoza, who was detained in July 2025 in California while pregnant, had only one medical visit during her detention—which was just shy of two months—according to court filings. 

Government detention standards say that when pregnant people are detained, they should receive comprehensive health care, including routine prenatal visits, specialized follow-ups if needed, prenatal vitamins, and proper nutrition and exercise. But court documents and interviews with pregnant detainees and immigration attorneys across the country paint a different picture: Pregnant people in detention facilities say they are receiving sporadic medical visits and slow or limited medical care even when they experience bleeding, pain, and other complications that could threaten their pregnancies. Some who have received medical visits say they were not given test results.

Allegations of improper medical care for pregnant people are piling up. The 19th has spoken to two women who were pregnant while detained and four attorneys whose clients were pregnant while detained, and reviewed court records related to another similar case from summer 2025. A new report suggests that lack of medical care is endangering pregnant immigrants, who suffer complications in detention and do not receive timely treatment. 

For a report published March 18 from two advocacy groups, the Women’s Refugee Commission and Physicians for Human Rights, researchers traveled to Honduras to spend a week interviewing recently deported people, including three women who were “visibly pregnant” and four who said they were recently postpartum. All four postpartum........

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