Border Patrol Forced an Asylum Seeker to Give Birth While Clutching Trash Can, According to ACLU

[Judi Lynn]

Esther Wang
Today 11:30AM
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A new complaint filed by the ACLU and Jewish Family Services details the horrific treatment of a Guatemalan woman who gave birth in a southern California Border Patrol station in February and alleges that Border Patrol agents ignored her and her husband’s pleas for medical care. The details are horrific—the woman, who is identified as Ana by advocates, ended up giving birth while standing up and clutching a trash can for support.

According to the complaint, Ana, her husband, and their two young daughters initially came to the United States from Guatemala to seek asylum in May of 2019, but were sent to Tijuana, Mexico as part of the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy. This policy, implemented in January 2019, sends asylum seekers to Mexico to await their immigration hearings, where they are forced to live in tent camps and are vulnerable to sexual assault, kidnappings, and even torture. Ana became pregnant while in Tijuana. After receiving threatening phone calls from the people in Guatemala her family was fleeing from, Ana and her family decided to once again attempt to migrate to the United States. Her contractions began as they crossed the desert. Per the Los Angeles Times:

On the way, she began to feel labor pains and her husband tried to call 911, the complaint says. When Border Patrol found them, her husband told agents that Ana needed immediate medical attention, but they were taken to the station for processing, the complaint says.

At the station, Ana was told by agents to sit down, but because of her pain, she stood, holding a garbage can for support.

More:
https://theslot.jezebel.com/border-patrol-forced-an-asylum-seeker-to-give-birth-whi-1842791492

Also posted in Editorials and other articles:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016251938

[Judi Lynn]

1. Guatemalan woman who gave birth in Border Patrol station says requests for help were ignored

BY ZACK BUDRYK - 04/09/20 08:29 AM EDT

A complaint filed on behalf of a Guatemalan woman who gave birth in a Border Patrol station in February claims personnel disregarded her pleas for medical attention and left her to clutch the side of a garbage can during part of the birth.

The complaint, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Jewish Family Service with the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, says the Border Patrol account of the incident is inconsistent with the woman’s.

The Border Patrol, in a statement published Feb. 19, said the woman “did not appear to be in distress and did not request any medical attention” when she was apprehended along with her husband and her two daughters, and said that staff “prepared an area for the mother to give birth” at the Chula Vista, Calif., station.

In contrast, the woman, identified only as “Ana” in the complaint, said she had to partially give birth while standing and holding on to the side of a trash can for support. The complaint alleges that her husband heard the baby crying and reached for the baby’s head along with an agent and medical staff, some of whom were not wearing gloves.

More:
https://thehill.com/latino/491944-guatemalan-woman-who-gave-birth-in-border-patrol-station-says-requests-for-help-were