Congressional Democrats Press ICE for Miscarriage Data Amid Tracking Failures

U.S. lawmakers are urgently demanding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) disclose the number of pregnant immigrants who have suffered miscarriages, stillbirths, and pregnancy-related hospitalizations while in custody, following the agency’s admission that it lost track of such data last year.

The request comes after a Guardian investigation revealed that the Trump administration is detaining a record number of pregnant women and teenagers while simultaneously failing to monitor how many have lost pregnancies.

In a letter to ICE Acting Director David Venturella, Democratic Representatives Brittany Pettersen, Joyce Beatty, and Robin Kelly also asked the agency to explain what steps, if any, have been taken to recover missing data on these cases.

Government documents obtained by the Guardian show that ICE detained more pregnant immigrants last fall and winter than at any point in the prior year. The agency recorded 18 miscarriages during the first nine months of the Trump administration but possesses no data on miscarriages occurring after October 3, 2025.

Detained pregnant women reported significant difficulties accessing routine and emergency medical care. Medical experts warned that lapses in care during pregnancy and miscarriage management can escalate treatable conditions into life-threatening emergencies.

The lawmakers’ letter cites a 2021 directive instructing ICE to generally avoid detaining pregnant, postpartum, and nursing immigrants “unless release is prohibited by law or exceptional circumstances exist,” and asks the agency to clarify the legal grounds for current detentions. The directive also mandates close monitoring and documentation of pregnant detainees’ health, with continuous evaluation of whether detention remains medically advisable.

“ICE’s inability to follow agency directives, provide adequate medical care, and maintain accurate records of pregnancy-related medical outcomes is unacceptable,” the representatives wrote in a letter co-signed by 64 other House members.

In an interview, Representative Pettersen called it “deeply concerning” that ICE failed to account for a full year of pregnancy outcomes. “I’m just devastated for the people who have gone through this, who’ve lost pregnancies unnecessarily, who have been left without the medical care that they need after miscarrying,” she said. “It’s hard to imagine how we are ever going to right these wrongs.”

Internal agency documents indicate ICE lost miscarriage data after switching medical billing providers in October, causing months of delays in medical claims processing. Immigration attorneys and former officials said it was unusual but plausible that ICE relied solely on its billing provider to track miscarriages.

When questioned about tracking practices after October 3, 2025, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson initially claimed the agency tracked miscarriages in monthly reports, but later confirmed the agency lacks data for the period between October 2025 and June 2026.

The DHS did not confirm whether it had received the congressional letter. “Claims that any pregnant detainees are receiving subprime care are FALSE,” an agency spokesperson stated.

The lawmakers asked ICE leadership to detail when it first became aware of concerns regarding miscarriage reporting and tracking deficiencies, setting a November 6 deadline for a response.

Prior to the Guardian’s reporting, the agency had never acknowledged losing count of miscarriages, even when U.S. senators requested the data.

The Guardian filed a Freedom of Information Act request and subsequently sued in collaboration with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to obtain data on the number of pregnant people in ICE detention and their health outcomes.

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