Homeland Security denies ICE targets hospitals after New York Times report
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said The New York Times “should be ashamed” on Wednesday after publishing a video report titled “Pregnant Women in Minneapolis Face Impossible Choice to Hide from ICE” alleging that ICE is targeting hospitals for deportation operations.
DHS posted a statement on account X refuting the network’s claim that federal immigration agents targeted health centers in Minneapolis.
“@nytimes should be ashamed of this attempt to denigrate DHS law enforcement,” the department wrote. “ICE does not police hospitals — period. We would only go to a hospital if there was an active danger to public safety. If someone is preventing Minnesotans from making an appointment or getting a prescription, its violent agitators are blocking the roads.”
NY POST, WSJ, NY TIMES AND WASHINGTON POST PARTNER AGAINST TRUMP ADMIN OVER OPERATION ICE IN MINNEAPOLIS
“Additionally, pregnancy in ICE detention is extremely rare, accounting for 0.133% of all illegal aliens in custody. Pregnant women receive regular prenatal visits, mental health services, nutritional support, and housing that meets community standards of care. This is the best health care many of these individuals have received in their lifetimes,” the statement said.
In response to DHS’s post, the Times’ public affairs account at
“Viewers can see for themselves what DHS is denying,” he added, including a link to the news story.
The Times’ Wednesday report She followed a Minnesota midwife named Fernanda, who volunteers her days off by delivering food, clothing and other necessities “to reach pregnant women hiding from ICE,” according to the report.
An undocumented pregnant woman Fernanda helped was identified as Ana, a single mother of two who the Times said “requested that her identity not be disclosed” out of “fear of being targeted” for deportation.
The report said health care providers in Minneapolis reported ICE presence at at least 11 different medical centers last month and pointed to a Jan. 21 video showing federal agents “locating and detaining two individuals outside the Whittier Clinic in South Minneapolis.”
MEDIA ACTIVATES AN AVALANCHE WITH ICE, A ‘TERRIBLE LIE’ TARGETED A 5-YEAR-OLD CHILD IN MINNESOTA, DHS SAYS THE CHILD WAS ABANDONED
DHS pushed back on the Times’ claim that ICE targets hospitals for deportation operations. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo)
“After meeting with agents near her clinic in early January, Ana switched to virtual appointments in the final weeks of her pregnancy,” the Times reported.
“My biggest worry: We’re going to miss things, the babies will be too small, the mothers will have diabetes. I’m afraid the mothers will develop high blood pressure and have seizures,” Ana told the outlet.
Despite a 2021 policy exempting pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding mothers from detention except in “exceptional circumstances,” the Times confirmed that “at least two pregnant women have been detained by the Trump administration since November.”
“The Department of Homeland Security told The Times that, quote, ‘pregnancy in ICE custody is extremely rare,’ but did not address the 2021 policy. Regarding the two cases, DHS alleged that both women entered the United States illegally and stated that their pending asylum cases did not provide legal status.”
ICE REJECTS ‘MISNARRATIVE’ ABOUT FAMILY SEPARATION, CLAIMS MINNESOTA CHURCH REBELLERS WERE NOT PEACEFUL
Federal immigration officers in Minnesota arrested someone during a deportation operation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 14. (Mustafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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Fox News Digital’s Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.
