AP
By Amy Taxin
June 20, 2015
An
asylum seeker from Mexico suffered a miscarriage after she tripped and
fell while shackled in immigration detention, even though pregnant
detainees are not supposed
to be restrained, her lawyers said.
Monserrat
Ruiz was given a pregnancy test after arriving at an immigration
detention facility in Bakersfield, California, in May, yet she was
"fully shackled in leg and
arm restraints" on a trip to the hospital, the American Civil Liberties
Union of Southern California wrote in a letter Thursday to Immigration
and Customs Enforcement.
Pregnant
detainees are not supposed to be restrained barring "truly
extraordinary circumstances," for example, if a woman presents a threat
to herself or is an immediate
flight risk, according to ICE's national detention standards.
The
GEO Group, which runs the 400-bed facility in Bakersfield, said
additional training and procedures were implemented following Ruiz's
case to ensure that policies on
restraints are properly followed, "including in cases when a pregnancy
may not be immediately known." GEO declined to discuss details of the
case.
Immigration officials said they are reviewing the allegations.
"While
that inquiry is still ongoing, ICE's preliminary review of
documentation and witness statements associated with this case indicate
many of the allegations are unsubstantiated,"
the agency said in a statement.
Ruiz
arrived on the U.S. border in early May seeking asylum after fleeing
threats to her family. She was transferred to the Bakersfield facility.
After experiencing heart
and breathing complications, she was taken to the hospital May 10,
where a doctor determined she was pregnant, the ACLU said.
In
the following days, she suffered health problems and was shackled and
taken back to the hospital, but she tripped and fell in transit. Ruiz
returned to the detention
facility and began suffering symptoms of miscarriage the next day, the
ACLU said.
Ruiz,
who is 24, was a couple of weeks pregnant, and she only learned of her
pregnancy in detention, said Eleni Wolfe-Roubatis, Ruiz's attorney. A
guard from the detention
facility accompanied Ruiz on the doctor's visit when she learned of the
pregnancy and was given a copy of her hospital records, she said.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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