Early October 2022

The Nogales-based Kino Border Initiative (KBI) reported that a pregnant migrant woman lost her child after Border Patrol refused medical attention while she was in the agency’s custody, then expelled her under the Title 42 authority.

KBI recently accompanied Esmeralda [name changed to protect privacy] who lost her unborn child when BP [Border Patrol] apprehended her at 8 months pregnant and refused her medical attention 3 times. Upon apprehension, she told them she was 8 months pregnant and had a child that tended to move around a lot and that she was alarmed she hadn’t felt the baby move in hours. She requested a medical examination 3 times and BP agents repeatedly told her to wait. She was quickly expelled to Mexico. The following morning when she began to experience serious pain, a migrant shelter in Nogales brought her to the hospital, where they told her that her baby was no longer alive.

— “Early October Update on Asylum, Border, and Deportations from KBI” (Nogales: Kino Border Initiative, October 13, 2022).

Sector(s): Tucson

Agency(ies): Border Patrol

Event Type(s): Denial of Medical Care, Denial of Protection to Most Vulnerable

Accountability Status: Unknown

Victim Classification: Female, Pregnancy