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ICE Deports Eight Months Pregnant Asylum Seeker From Atlanta Despite Reported Medical Distress

Attorneys say the 21-year-old had a pending derivative asylum claim despite an earlier expedited removal order.

Overview

  • Lawyers for Zharick Daniela Buitrago Ortiz say she was placed on a deportation flight from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport while experiencing intense abdominal and back pain.
  • States Newsroom reported she was deported Wednesday, as legal advocates also alleged she was denied needed medical care while in custody.
  • The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists cautions that travel after 28 weeks of pregnancy carries elevated risks, and her attorneys said the flight to Colombia would be roughly five hours.
  • Buitrago Ortiz’s mother passed a credible-fear interview and filed for asylum, while Buitrago initially failed and received an expedited removal order before being added as a derivative on her mother’s case.
  • ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not address case-specific questions, as the ACLU of Louisiana and the Kennedy Human Rights Center pressed officials to halt removal and release pregnant detainees.