ICE and LaSalle Corrections denied pregnant detainee prenatal care at Louisiana facility; she delivered a stillborn baby

On April 29, 2025, Iris Dayana Monterroso Lemus delivered a stillborn baby boy at Ochsner LSU Health – Monroe Medical Center after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its contractor, LaSalle Corrections, denied her adequate prenatal care during weeks of detention at Richwood Correctional Center in Richwood, Louisiana. ICE arrested Monterroso Lemus, a Guatemalan national living in Lenoir City, Tennessee, in mid-March 2025 and transferred her through facilities in Illinois, Tennessee, and Alabama before she arrived at Richwood in early April. Federal records later obtained by The Intercept through a Freedom of Information Act request show ICE's own care timeline documented only a referral for an OB-GYN appointment — with no indication a visit occurred or that Monterroso Lemus ever received an ultrasound — despite her repeatedly telling staff for days beforehand that she had stopped feeling fetal movement. An outside OB-GYN who reviewed the records for The Intercept said the documented care fell short of an adequate prenatal assessment.

ICE's own 2021 directive discourages detaining pregnant, postpartum, or nursing women absent exceptional circumstances. Immigration attorneys say the Trump administration has detained far more pregnant women than prior administrations; one Louisiana facility held 14 pregnant women during a single congressional visit in 2026, compared to roughly a dozen nationally in an entire year under the Biden administration. Ten days after the stillbirth, on May 9, 2025, ICE shackled Monterroso Lemus and deported her to Guatemala, canceling a scheduled postpartum medical visit.

Updates

2025-06-26 — DHS denied Monterroso Lemus lacked prenatal care, calling it "absolutely FALSE" [3]

After a Nashville Banner report and public criticism from Rep. Pramila Jayapal, then-DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin issued a written "Fact Check" statement asserting Monterroso Lemus had received "FULL medical, prenatal care," including an ultrasound and OB-GYN visit. DHS separately claimed, without providing documentation, that she had an active warrant for homicide.

2025-07-16 — House Democrats demanded DHS investigate Monterroso Lemus's stillbirth [4]

The Democratic Women's Caucus, joined by 37 members of the House of Representatives, sent a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari, Government Accountability Office Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, and Richwood Correctional Center's warden demanding a full, transparent investigation into Monterroso Lemus's pregnancy loss and the broader mistreatment of pregnant and postpartum women in immigration custody, with a response required within 60 days.

2026-08-27 — FOIA-disclosed federal records contradicted DHS's denial [2]

Federal documents obtained by The Intercept, including ICE's own care timeline and outside hospital records, showed no completed ultrasound or OB-GYN visit and described her pregnancy as "complicated by lack of PNC" (prenatal care). An OB-GYN reviewing the records said the administration's denial read as "cover your ass." Asked about the new documents, a DHS spokesperson repeated the agency's earlier claims without addressing the discrepancies.