ICE detained pregnant Massachusetts woman in bedless holding cell, denied care until hospitalization forced her release

On February 11, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Djeniffer Benvinda Ribeiro Semedo, a 22-year-old Cape Verdean national who was approximately 24 weeks pregnant, as she left a Brockton District Court hearing where the court recalled an outstanding default warrant tied to a 2024 domestic-dispute charge and released her without bail. ICE agents handcuffed and shackled her in the courthouse and took her to the agency's Boston Field Office in Burlington, a facility not designed for multi-day detention. She was held there for about three days in a holding room without beds, sleeping on a concrete bench alongside other detained women, with little information about the basis or expected length of her detention and, she said, no meaningful access to her family or attorney.

Over those three days, Ribeiro Semedo developed worsening abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased fetal movement; her food options were minimal and, she said, worsened her condition. She and her attorney, Carl Hurvich, said ICE delayed transferring her for medical attention despite repeated requests. She was taken to Lahey Medical Center and then, on February 13, transferred to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where Dr. Blair Wylie, chief of obstetrics and gynecology, found evidence of gallstones, anemia, and conditions that could trigger preterm labor, and testified that Ribeiro Semedo had reported a normal pregnancy with routine prenatal care before her detention. ICE agents remained stationed outside her hospital room and, according to her attorney's court filing, an agent at one point blocked a doctor from reaching her family for an urgent medical discussion.

Hurvich argued the detention violated ICE's 2021 policy against detaining people known to be pregnant, postpartum, or nursing absent exceptional circumstances. A Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, Tricia McLaughlin, called it "exceedingly rare" for ICE to detain a pregnant person, disputed that Ribeiro Semedo was mistreated, and said detained pregnant people receive intake screening within 12 hours, a full health assessment within 14 days, and 24-hour emergency care. Hurvich said the case reflected a broader pattern under the current ICE leadership of detaining people encountered with any criminal charge, regardless of the charge's disposition or a court's own assessment that they pose no flight risk.

Updates

2026-02-14 — Ribeiro Semedo filed a federal habeas corpus petition challenging her detention [4]

Ribeiro Semedo filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts (1:26-cv-10873) seeking her immediate release, followed by an amended petition on February 16.

2026-02-17 — ICE released Ribeiro Semedo on an order of recognizance [4]

After Ribeiro Semedo filed an emergency motion for release on bail, ICE released her that same day on an order of recognizance under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), mooting the emergency motion.