U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stopped maintaining data on miscarriages in its detention facilities just as the number of pregnant women and teenagers in custody climbed to record levels, according to newly released government documents.
ICE recorded at least 18 miscarriages between January and September 2025, the first nine months of President Donald Trump's second administration. However, the agency said it has no updated miscarriage data after Oct. 3, 2025, leaving the federal government unable to say how many additional pregnancies have ended while immigrants were in its custody.
The figures were obtained by The Guardian through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed in partnership with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
ICE released spreadsheets tracking pregnant, postpartum and nursing detainees from October 2024 through mid-January 2026. But the agency only provided miscarriage figures through September 2025.
Internal documents attributed the lapse to a change in the agency's medical accounting system. ICE previously obtained miscarriage information through its medical billing contractor, the Veterans Affairs Financial Services Center. That contract ended in October 2025 and was replaced by an agreement with Acentra Health, a Virginia-based company.
Processing delays followed the transition. ICE told The Guardian that it had no miscarriage data covering October 2025 through June 2026.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, initially told the publication that the agency continued tracking miscarriages through monthly reports. A DHS spokesperson later confirmed that the newer figures did not exist.
The data gap coincided with a sharp increase in the detention of pregnant immigrants. ICE records show that at least 87 pregnant women and teenagers were detained in October 2025, rising to 101 in November.
Separate DHS figures released to Congress showed that at least 498 pregnant, postpartum or nursing people were booked out of ICE facilities between January 2025 and February 2026. The category includes people who left detention through deportation, release or another form of transfer.
More than 360 of those individuals were deported. As of Feb. 16, 2026, 121 remained in ICE custody, including nine women in their third trimester, Forbes reported.
Those numbers represent a substantial increase from the 158 pregnant, postpartum and nursing women detained during the first half of fiscal year 2024.
Interviews and legal declarations reviewed by The Guardian describe pregnant detainees struggling to obtain ultrasounds, prenatal vitamins, specialist appointments and follow-up care after pregnancy complications.
One 35-year-old Nicaraguan asylum-seeker, identified only as Anabell to protect her privacy, discovered she was pregnant after being detained during a required ICE appointment in February. She said she later experienced heavy bleeding and repeatedly requested medical assistance.
Anabell was eventually transported to an emergency room, where she learned she was no longer pregnant. She alleged that she continued experiencing bleeding, vomiting, weight loss and other symptoms after returning to detention, but did not receive the recommended follow-up examination.
Other detainees described abdominal pain, bleeding and delays in seeing obstetric specialists. Medical experts cautioned that it is generally impossible to attribute an individual miscarriage to detention conditions alone. They said, however, that inadequate treatment after a miscarriage can lead to infections and other potentially severe complications.
Federal policy directs ICE to avoid detaining pregnant, postpartum and nursing people unless release is prohibited by law or "exceptional circumstances" exist. The 2021 directive also requires officials to monitor their health and repeatedly evaluate whether continued detention is medically appropriate.
DHS spokesperson Chandler Rebel said the directive remains in effect and maintained that pregnant detainees receive prenatal appointments, mental health services, nutritional assistance and accommodations comparable to community standards.
Immigration attorneys and advocacy organizations dispute that characterization. The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups have documented allegations involving delayed medical attention, inadequate nutrition, shackling and limited access to prenatal care.
Faisal Al-Juburi, co-chief executive of the Texas-based immigration organization RAICES, said the absence of data prevents the government and public from understanding the consequences of current detention policies.
The 18 miscarriages recorded before the reporting stopped may also be an undercount. Not every detained woman receives a pregnancy test, and early pregnancy losses may go unrecognized or never generate a medical billing record.
ICE has not said when comprehensive miscarriage reporting will resume.
