HUMSI — Human Security Initiative

Human Impact Project

A living database documenting reported immigration enforcement incidents and their human impact.

Breastfeeding mother with no criminal history detained three months postpartum, kept weeks from infant

Sep 28, 2026·Location: St. Louis, MO

A St. Louis mother with no criminal history was detained by ICE three months postpartum, while still breastfeeding, despite an ICE policy against detaining breastfeeding mothers outside "exceptional circumstances." ICE ignored the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights' request to release her under the policy. It took days for social workers to set up an account on the detainee tablet system so she could message her family, and she went weeks without even seeing her infant.

Suggest a correction, comment, or update

Sources

More incidents in Missouri