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ICE detained Nashville nursing mother in violation of its own postpartum-detention policy

On May 19, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained a Guatemalan-born nursing mother, identified by advocates only as Maria Perez, at her Nashville home while serving a federal warrant naming the father of her children, separating her from her breastfeeding 10-month-old and a 2-year-old with Down syndrome. Advocates say the detention violates ICE's own directive barring detention of pregnant, postpartum, or nursing people absent exceptional circumstances; as of late July 2026 she remained held in Louisiana, roughly 700 miles from her children, and had not seen them since her arrest.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Nashville, Tennessee

Abuses documented

Actors

On May 19, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained a Guatemalan-born nursing mother — identified by advocates only as Maria Perez to protect her identity — at her home in the Antioch neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee, as she was preparing to take her two young children to a doctor's appointment. ICE said it was serving a federal warrant tied to an investigation involving the father of her children, who was not present. Advocates say Perez has no criminal record; DHS said she had previously been charged with falsely claiming U.S. citizenship.

At the time of her arrest, Perez was breastfeeding her 10-month-old daughter and caring for a 2-year-old daughter with Down syndrome and multiple medical conditions; both children were left in a neighbor's care. ICE transferred Perez roughly 700 miles away to a detention facility in Louisiana, where she remained held more than two months later, having not seen her children since the arrest.

ICE's own directive generally bars detaining pregnant, postpartum, or nursing people absent exceptional circumstances such as a national-security risk or an imminent threat to others; the policy was reinstated in 2021 after the first Trump administration had vacated similar protections in 2017. DHS said pregnant and nursing women in ICE custody are "exceedingly rare" and receive care "aligned with community standards," but did not identify what exceptional circumstance justified continuing to hold Perez apart from her children.

Updates

2026-07-29 — Advocacy groups filed DHS Office of Inspector General complaint over Perez's detention [1]

Advocacy groups including Amnesty International, the Kennedy Human Rights Center, Sanctuary of the South, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the ACLU of Louisiana filed a complaint with the DHS Office of Inspector General on July 29, 2026, arguing Perez's continued detention violates ICE's postpartum-detention policy.

2026 — Perez filed habeas corpus petition challenging her detention [2]

Perez separately filed a habeas corpus petition challenging her detention.

Why we recorded this

ICE policy generally bars detaining pregnant, postpartum, or nursing people absent exceptional circumstances, in recognition of the acute harm separation causes to infants and their caregivers. ICE detained a nursing mother while serving a federal warrant addressed to someone else, then held her hundreds of miles from her breastfeeding infant and medically fragile toddler for more than two months without identifying any exceptional circumstance justifying her continued detention. This archive records when an agency disregards its own binding safeguards for people in its custody.

Sources

  1. ICE separated nursing mom from infant, toddler in Nashville, against its own rules, advocates say — Tennessee Lookout primary accessed July 31, 2026
  2. Mother challenges ICE detention after Nashville arrest as agency cites criminal charges — WZTV/FOX 17 Nashville (Nexstar) secondary accessed July 31, 2026

See also