Pregnant Women Face Harrowing Abuses In Immigrant Detention, Democratic Report Says

They've been deprived of critical medical care and subject to overcrowded cells, per an investigation from Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff.

A pregnant woman in immigrant detention was bleeding for days before staff took her to a hospital where she miscarried, according to a new report from Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.).

Her account is one of hundreds of human rights abuses documented by Ossoff’s team as they’ve scrutinized conditions at immigrant detention facilities across the country. Their findings, which NBC News first published, include 14 credible reports of mistreatment of pregnant women, 18 credible reports of mistreatment of children and 41 credible reports of physical and sexual abuse that occurred while immigrants were in detention.

The Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Prisons and Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (All three oversee different facilities mentioned in the Ossoff report.)

“Any claim that there are subprime conditions at ICE detention centers are false,” DHS Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin told NBC News.

These accounts add to investigations by news outlets and human rights organizations that have exposed abysmal living conditions and specific abuses directed at women in immigrant detention. As HuffPost’s Alanna Vagianos reported, women have been deprived of medical care for pregnancies, vulnerable to sexual assault and subject to gawking by male detainees.