Joaquin Castro claims ICE deported pregnant woman held for three months with two children

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported a woman who was nine months pregnant from the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley over the weekend, Congressman Joaquin Castro confirmed Monday.The woman’s name is Juana, whose last name has been withheld due to privacy concerns. She and her two children, aged 2 and 8, were held in Dilley for three months. She reportedly feared giving birth in the detention center, where there were reports of substandard sanitary conditions and inadequate medical services.Juana’s due date was so close that medical experts deemed it medically unsafe for her to fly, but authorities deported her anyway, Castro said in a social media post.“When ICE first tried to deport her, doctors and airlines refused to clear her to travel because she was too close to her due date,” said the Democratic congressman, whose district includes San Antonio. “But ICE is on the lookout for doctors and airlines who may be involved in this cruel practice.”Univision reporter Lidia Terrazas, reporting on the incident, confirmed Juana’s fears about giving birth inside the Dili refugee camp.Terrazas posted on Instagram on Friday that “she was worried she would give birth surrounded by guards and ICE agents.”During a news conference Friday afternoon, Castro told reporters that Dilley officials “hid the pregnant woman from him” during a visit to the facility earlier in the day. He said several pregnant detainees were taken to a medical facility in Laredo that day, SAan Antonio Current reported.Castro said he doesn’t think it’s a coincidence that the center’s off-site medical appointments coincided with his visit. He said he especially wanted to talk to Juana because she was going to have a baby at any time.Terrazas confirmed Juana had been deported after activists and influencers raised concerns over the weekend that Juana was missing.SA Current says it has been the free, independent voice of San Antonio since 1986 and is asking readers to become supporters for as little as $5 a month to help it continue to provide free coverage of local news, food, nightlife, events and culture.Terrazas followed Juana back to her native Guatemala. Terrazas’ Instagram story shows the pregnant woman lounging in a hammock, away from the stress of the cramped trailer prison.Castro added in Monday’s post that the experience of pregnancy and incarceration was so stressful for Juana that her hair began to fall out.“I am deeply concerned that ICE is failing to meet the most basic medical needs of expectant mothers like Juana while incarcerated,” Castro added. “It is unjustifiable to treat a pregnant woman and her unborn child with such cruelty.”