Two months after Iris Dayana Monterroso Lemus lost her son to a stillbirth last year while detained by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, the Trump administration issued a public response to her allegations that she did not receive prenatal care.
asserted
she → lose → care
“This reporting is absolutely FALSE,” said Tricia McLaughlin, then a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, in a statement.
asserted
McLaughlin → say → statement
“Iris Dayana Monterroso-Lemus had FULL medical, prenatal care.
asserted
Lemus → have → care
The statement, labeled as a “Fact Check,” said the Guatemalan-born Monterroso Lemus had “received prenatal care, including an ultrasound and OB-GYN visit.”
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Lemus → label → ultrasound
Neither side of the disputed account provided evidence to back up their claims.
uncertain
side → dispute → claims
Now, federal government documents obtained by The Intercept appear to undermine the Trump administration’s version of events.
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documents → obtain → events
The documents show a lack of basic care needed for a healthy pregnancy, according to expert analysis.
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documents → show → analysis
One document from an outside healthcare center made after the stillbirth describes a “pregnancy complicated by lack of PNC” — meaning prenatal care.
asserted
document → make → care
“The administration was engaged in CYA — cover your ass,” said Dr. Andrea Schecter, an OB-GYN physician with a decade’s experience working with high-risk pregnancies, including those of immigrants.
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Schecter → engage → immigrants
“They know that what they provided is probably not sufficient care.”
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provided → know → what
The new records, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, include documents from Monterroso Lemus’s visit to Ochsner LSU Center, a healthcare facility in Shreveport, Louisiana, after she complained for days about not feeling fetal movement.
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she → obtain → movement
It was the only recorded instance of her leaving Richwood Correctional Center, an ICE detention facility run by the family-owned private prison giant LaSalle Corrections.
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her → record → giant
The Ochsner LSU documents, produced after the stillbirth, say that Monterroso Lemus had told medical staff at Richwood that “this pregnancy didn’t feel right a couple days ago but nothing was done.”
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nothing → produce → Richwood
Other new records include timelines produced by ICE that show a referral for an OB-GYN appointment but don’t indicate that any visit was scheduled or took place, or that Monterroso Lemus ever received an ultrasound.
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Lemus → include → ultrasound
Asked about the new documents, a spokesperson from the Department of Homeland Security simply repeated the previous claims that Monterroso Lemus received regular, timely prenatal care without responding to queries.
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Lemus → ask → queries
On May 9, ten days after losing her son, Monterroso Lemus was shackled, put on a plane, and deported to Guatemala, causing her postpartum visit to be canceled.
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visit → lose → Guatemala
“Everyone knows that ICE and DHS lie on a daily basis — and Americans have witnessed the deadly consequences of this administration’s reckless actions for nearly two years,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., when asked about the case.
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Murray → know → case
In fact, the Trump administration is detaining many more pregnant women than before.
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administration → detain → women
During the Biden administration, for example, ICE would detain about a dozen pregnant women nationally during a year, said Eunice Cho, an immigration attorney with expertise in detention conditions.
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Cho → detain → conditions
According to a 2021 ICE directive, “Generally, ICE should not detain, arrest, or take into custody for an administrative violation of the immigration laws individuals known to be pregnant, postpartum, or nursing unless release is prohibited by law or exceptional circumstances exist.”
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circumstances → accord → law
Cho said, “The Trump administration is flouting the directive.”
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administration → say → directive
Murray introduced legislation last year to codify in federal law the notion that pregnant women should not be detained, as well as other standards.
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women → introduce → notion
The bill remains in committee.
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bill → remain → committee
“This case stands out as an example of the enormity of the tragedy pregnant women and families are facing because of the Trump administration,” Cho said, of Monterroso Lemus’s experience.
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Cho → stand → experience
“The bottom line is: No one deserves to be treated like this.”
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one → deserve → this
The Timeline
Monterroso Lemus, now 38 years old, met her neighbor Gary Bivens in Lenoir City, Tennessee, about six years ago.
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Lemus → meet → City
The pair began to grow close
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pair → begin → ?
about four years ago, after Bivens lost his wife to a heart condition
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Bivens → lose → condition
Monterroso Lemus became pregnant, and the couple had an OB-GYN visit in February.
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couple → become → February
They had plans to get married when ICE detained her in mid-March.
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ICE → have → March
After ICE transferred Monterroso Lemus multiple times, on April 2, she arrived at Richwood Correctional Center, in Monroe, Louisiana.
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she → transfer → Monroe
Most of the documents obtained by The Intercept are emails between officials with ICE and at its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, where officials sought to rebut Monterroso Lemus’s statements to the media by compiling information on her medical care while detained.
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officials → obtain → care
The timeline included in the documents, annotated and labeled as a “[f]ull overview of her care,” begins on April 2.
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timeline → include → April
Versions of the timeline are included in several other places in the documents.
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Versions → include → documents
The timeline has nine entries under what is called a “List of medical visits.”
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what → have → visits
Two others are labeled “Mental Health Visit.”
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others → label → ?
On April 17, according to the timeline, she visited the on-site medical provider for what is labeled “prenatal care non–compliance.”
uncertain
what → accord → provider
Monterroso Lemus told The Intercept that visit was due to her unwillingness to continue taking 12 pills daily, including what she said may have been vitamins and others for constipation and headaches.
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she → tell → constipation
She had been taking them for three days.
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She → take → days
“I felt that they made me sick,” she said.
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she → feel → ?
…and 76 more, not listed.
The Aporia
