Pregnant Immigrant jailed in Nashville, shackled during labor

August 4, 2008

Pregnant woman's jailing questioned

Immigration policy says pregnancy is grounds for release

By JANELL ROSS
Staff Writer

The decision to jail a nine-months pregnant woman for days is raising questions about how the Davidson County Sheriff's Office handles the immigrant enforcement it volunteered to do.

Juana Villegas, 33, an immigrant with no criminal record, was arrested July 3 on a traffic violation charge, held in the Davidson County jail and shackled to her hospital bed before and after delivering her baby on July 7, she said.

Villegas was separated from her newborn son for two days and not allowed to bring a breast pump or cream for lactating mothers back to jail.

The sheriff's office has maintained its actions were consistent with its policies.

But what happened to Villegas — who said she told officers in booking she was due to deliver in days — conflicts with federal immigration policy as well as Tennessee Department of Correction and international jailing practices. Last week, the matter drew a visit to Villegas' home from the Atlanta-based Mexican consulate.

"I don't know that much about the law or any policy," said Villegas, a mother of four children born in the U.S. "But this … it does not seem right. It does not seem safe."

At issue is when Villegas should have been released.

When a person is arrested on state charges — such as driving without a license as Villegas was — officers have the option to write them a ticket or make an arrest. The Berry Hill officer involved in Villegas' case opted for arrest out of what his report indicates was concern that "prosecution would be jeopardized."

A magistrate granted Villegas bail. The amount was unavailable Friday.

But the Davidson County Sheriff's Office voluntarily participates in a program called 287g, which allows trained Davidson County sheriff's deputies to screen foreign-born inmates and pass information along to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The day of her arrest, ICE placed a hold on Villegas, a native of Mexico who first arrived in the U.S. in the 1990s. The hold keeps immigrants in jail past any local sentence ordered.

Davidson County Sheriff's Office spokesman Rick Gentry said Friday it was Villegas' failure to post bail that delayed her release.

Her attorney says that's not true, because local bail bondsmen won't post bail on inmates who face U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement involvement.

"This is simply a cheap attempt by the sheriff to evade his responsibility for the unconscionable way his jail treats pregnant women in labor," said Elliott Ozment, Villegas' attorney. "I think the real question here is why was this woman held for days in ICE's name even though ICE has said this is not what they want."

Pregnant women freed

Since 2007, ICE has required its officers making arrests to identify "at the earliest opportunity," people arrested on noncriminal immigration violations who "may be sole caregivers or who have other humanitarian concerns," said Temple Black, an agency spokesman.

A formal policy was developed for work-site raids. But the general practice is applied whenever individuals are detained in immigration violations, he said.

Those who are to be evaluated for immediate humanitarian release include those with "serious medical conditions … pregnant women, nursing mothers," the disabled and others, according to the first paragraph of the policy.

These evaluations are to be made the day of an arrest.

Neither Davidson County nor ICE responded to a request for comment about exactly when the federal agency was told that Villegas was pregnant or had just delivered a baby, but the timeline of events suggests ICE didn't know the situation until well into her jail time.

Hours after she was sentenced to time served on her traffic violation and turned over to ICE agents to deal with her immigration status, she was released. Black said it was on humanitarian grounds.

Notice about her pregnancy should have been given when deputies made contact with ICE and provided information that led to the hold, said Joan Friedland, the National Immigration Law Center's immigration policy director.

If ICE knew about the pregnancy, the hold likely wouldn't have been placed, Villegas could have posted bail and she wouldn't have gone into labor in jail, Friedland said.

Davidson County sheriff's deputies are aware of the humanitarian release policy and the jail does comply with all ICE standards, Gentry said in an e-mail.

Policy requires shackles

The Davidson County Sheriff's Office has also maintained that its officers followed procedure in the hospital. It is the agency's policy to shackle and restrain medium-security inmates during transport or while in a hospital bed.

Villegas, who arrived at the hospital shackled at her wrists and ankles, was considered a medium security inmate because of the ICE hold. In addition, according to the sheriff's office, she was either deported or left voluntarily in the late 1990s and then returned to the country without authorization.

Ozment said the exact terms of Villegas' departure are unclear.

Flight risk questioned

Restraints are considered unnecessary and dangerous during any stage of labor, according to Sheila Dauer, director of the women's rights program at Amnesty International USA.

"These kinds of restraints — belly chains, leg irons — are really a violation of international standards of treatment," Dauer said. "It's a minority of women in prison who have a history of violence to start with, and it's highly unlikely they're going to attempt to escape while in labor, which is a pretty painful process."

Amnesty recommends instead posting a guard outside the door.

Handcuffs are used while transporting pregnant state prison inmates, and one leg is cuffed to the bed after delivery, said Dorinda Carter, Tennessee Department of Correction spokeswoman. No restraints are used during labor and delivery, Carter said.

"For them to say this is the standard way that we do things, well that's an indictment of their so-called standards," said Ozment, "and I think the sheriff ought to be called to account for that."