BACKGROUND:
Since the mid-2010s, increasing numbers of women and families have migrated overland across the US-Mexico border. While recent Democratic administrations have tended to publicize humanitarian exceptions to border enforcement policies for pregnant women, the first Trump administration took a “zero tolerance” stance, first increasing the detention of pregnant women and then excluding and expelling them under policies known as MPP and Title 42.

OBJECTIVES:
The study's research questions were: 1. What is the experience of pregnancy in immigration detention (including being trapped in Northern Mexico under MPP/Title 42) in the United States? 2. What can the experience of pregnancy in immigration detention tell us about the intersecting systems that affect migrant women’s lives and health? 3. What policy changes should midwives advocate for?

METHODS:
This study used feminist and critical ethnographic methods to analyze data from 18 semi-structured interviews with women who had crossed the border while pregnant and service providers (detention visitors, shelter workers, lawyers, and healthcare workers) who had supported them. Latinx feminist research methods testimonio and plática inspired our humanistic semi-structured interview style.

RESULTS:
Though U.S. immigration policy shifted dramatically from 2017-2022, pregnant women consistently experienced preventable harm due to U.S. immigration enforcement. During periods of increased detention, poor detention conditions and the threat of deportation negatively impacted pregnant women's health. Under policies of exclusion and expulsion, pregnant women endured dangerous conditions in Northern Mexico, increasing the likelihood of attempting hazardous unauthorized crossings into the US. During periods when pregnant women were likely to be released on humanitarian parole, parole rarely extended to family members, leading to family separation despite purported humanitarian intent.

CONCLUSIONS:
U.S. immigration policy produces racialized reproductive oppression, as the immigration enforcement system, including the largely for-profit detention sector, evades humanitarian accountability.

KEY MESSAGE:
Midwives should advocate for policy changes including whole-family humanitarian approaches, sanctuary hospital initiatives, and medico-legal partnerships. Poster session 4 (Group B)