NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Immigration and civil rights groups are calling for the release of a nursing mother who they say was detained by ICE in Nashville and taken nearly 700 miles away from her children.
The woman, identified by the pseudonym Maria Perez, was detained while taking her children to a doctor’s appointment, according to Sanctuary of the South and the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition.
Perez has a 10-month-old baby she was breastfeeding and a 2-year-old with Down syndrome who needs ongoing medical care and therapy, the groups said.
She is now being held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center. Her children are staying with a neighbor and have missed medical appointments since her detention, advocates said.
Sanctuary of the South and TIRRC are working with the ACLU of Louisiana, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and Amnesty International USA. The groups have filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security and are calling for Perez’s immediate release.
They argue her detention violates an ICE policy that generally limits the detention of people who are pregnant, postpartum or nursing, except under certain circumstances.
The organizations said Perez has no criminal history, has followed the immigration process since arriving in the U.S. in 2022 and is seeking asylum from Guatemala as a survivor of domestic violence.
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