LANGLEY PARK, Md. (FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 2018) – Virginia Kase, chief operating officer of CASA, the area’s largest immigrant service, and advocacy organization, issued the following statement after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced it would end the presumption of release for all pregnant women ICE detains.

“ICE’s new policy is a callous decision that exposes pregnant women to dangerous health risks like miscarriages and pregnancy complications. These women are vulnerable, often escaping gang-related violence, sexual abuse, and dire economic conditions. To force expectant mothers to risk their lives in the hazardous, stressful, and unhealthy conditions that characterize detention centers is cruel. However, it is an end to Women’s History Month fully fitting the Trump administration and how little they regard women, especially immigrant women. We call on ICE to reverse this new directive immediately.”