Proposed Act Bans Shackling of Pregnant Detainees, Mandates Immediate Release for Most

This proposed legislation, officially titled the Stop Shackling and Detaining Pregnant Women Act, aims to fundamentally change how U.S. immigration authorities (DHS, ICE, and CBP) handle pregnant, breastfeeding, and recently postpartum noncitizens in their custody. The core of the bill is simple: if you’re pregnant, you generally shouldn’t be detained. It mandates that anyone taken into custody must have access to a pregnancy test during the initial medical screening, and if that test is positive, the person must be released immediately.

The New Rule: Release, Not Detention

For busy people trying to understand the policy shift, the key takeaway is the “presumption against detention” laid out in Section 3. If immigration officials know someone is pregnant or recently gave birth (up to one year postpartum, or longer if medically necessary), they must be released. Think of this as flipping the script: detention is now the rare exception, not the standard procedure. The only way the Secretary of Homeland Security can keep someone detained is if they make a specific, individualized finding that the person poses an immediate and serious physical danger to others that cannot be managed by alternatives to detention. If someone is held under this narrow exception, their case must be reviewed weekly, and if they no longer meet the danger criteria, they must be released within 24 hours.

Banning the Shackles: A Focus on Dignity

Perhaps the most impactful section for human dignity is Section 4, which deals with physical restraints. This Act generally bans the use of any physical restraint—handcuffs, leg irons, belly chains—on noncitizens known to be pregnant, in labor, delivering, lactating, or recently postpartum, even during transport. This is a massive shift from current practices. The bill goes further, listing restraints that are always banned, even in emergency circumstances: no leg, waist, or four-point restraints, and no binding hands behind the back. Restraints are completely forbidden if the person is in labor or delivering.

Guaranteed Healthcare and Privacy

For those who are detained, the bill mandates comprehensive healthcare access. Section 4 requires ICE facilities to provide a full spectrum of reproductive care, including routine and specialized prenatal care, treatment for complications, substance use disorder treatment, postpartum care, and, notably, abortion services. This section also requires free menstrual hygiene products and lactation services. Furthermore, it institutes strict privacy rules: nonmedical staff are generally barred from the room during pelvic exams, labor, or delivery unless specifically requested by medical personnel. If they are present, they must be of the detainee’s preferred gender and stand far back, facing the person’s head to protect privacy.

Accountability and Paperwork

This isn't just about changing procedures; it's about transparency. Section 6 mandates a massive new reporting system. Facility administrators must submit quarterly reports to the Secretary detailing the number of pregnant noncitizens held, the average length of detention, and, critically, the outcomes of any pregnancies that ended in custody (live births, stillbirths, miscarriages, maternal morbidity, etc.). They also have to report every single instance a restraint was used on a pregnant person, including the specific administrator who approved it. The Secretary then has to audit this data annually and send a summary to Congress. All reports must be made public online (after redacting personal identifying information), which provides a huge new tool for oversight groups and the public to monitor detention conditions.