CV NEWS FEED // In a May 19 statement, US bishops condemned the Trump administration’s recent removal of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) policies protecting pregnant and postpartum mothers and their babies in CBP custody.
A CBP document signed by acting commissioner Pete Flores on May 5 states, “Upon review it has been determined that the following policies are either obsolete or misaligned with current Agency guidance and immigration enforcement priorities. As such, the following policies are hereby rescinded, effective immediately.”
The memo listed the removal of four policies: “Processing of Pregnant, and Postpartum Noncitizens and Infants”; “Custodial Considerations for Medically At-Risk Individuals”; “Additional Guidance on Custodial Considerations for Medically At-Risk Individuals”; and “Monitoring of Vulnerable Individuals in CBP Custody.”
Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Migration, and Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, both condemned the policy change this week.
“It is deeply troubling and inexcusable that measures intended to ensure the basic safety of pregnant mothers and their young children while in government custody could be rescinded with such indifference toward the vulnerability of those involved,” they stated.
The policy, the USCCB website explains, ensured that mothers and babies receive food, water, formula, safe places to sleep, and regular monitoring. It also specified that they should be placed in the least restrictive setting possible.
According to the USCCB, no new policies have replaced the rescinded guidelines. The bishops stated that rescinding the protections for mothers and their children puts their lives at serious risk.
“This decision is all the more concerning as the Administration simultaneously ramps up family detention in place of safer, more cost-effective alternatives to detention,” they stated.
“Let us be clear: protecting pregnant mothers and their children can never be considered ‘obsolete.’ This principle irrefutably extends to noncitizens in immigration detention, each of whom possesses an inviolable, God-given dignity that must be respected,” the bishops concluded. “We urge the Administration to reissue guidance that adequately reflects and affirms the increased standard of care due to this vulnerable population while in government custody.”
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