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Reproductive Rights Podcast
Free Maria! Pregnant, Detained, Denied Care Under ICE with Reps. Grijalva and Dexter – My Body. My Pod. Episode 31
Reproductive Freedom for All is calling for the release of Maria Alejandra Valero Brinez from Eloy Detention Center.
We strongly condemn the Trump administration’s cruel actions against pregnant people. Sign our petition demanding Maria’s release.
Watch & Listen
In this special episode of My Body. My Pod., Reproductive Freedom for All President and CEO Mini Timmaraju joins U.S. Representatives Adelita Grijalva (AZ-07) and Maxine Dexter (OR-03) to expose ICE’s cruel, inhumane, and illegal treatment of women and pregnant people in custody.
Recorded in Phoenix, Arizona, following a congressional oversight visit by Reps. Dexter, Grijalva, and U.S. Representative Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03) at the ICE Detention Center in Eloy, Arizona, the conversation takes listeners behind the scenes of ICE’s mistreatment of detained people, including 24-year-old Maria Alejandra Valero Brinez.
Key Takeaways in this Episode
- What's happening: Pregnant people in ICE custody are reporting cruel and inhumane conditions, including inadequate prenatal care, lack of basic necessities, and barriers to abortion access.
- Who is impacted: Maria Alejandra Valero Brinez, a 24-year-old experiencing a high-risk pregnancy after a previous stillbirth, is being denied adequate medical care at Arizona's ICE Eloy Detention Center. Similar concerns have been raised about pregnant migrant children, some as young as 13, held in Texas.
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- Why it matters: Denying pregnant people essential medical care, including abortion, threatens their health, safety, and reproductive freedom. These reported abuses demand urgent accountability from the Trump administration, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., ICE, DHS, and those responsible for the treatment of people in its custody.
- What's next: Following their congressional oversight visit, Reps. Adelita Grijalva, Maxine Dexter, and Yassamin Ansari are calling attention to conditions inside ICE detention. Reproductive Freedom for All is supporting efforts to secure Maria's release and demand accountability.
Five months into a high-risk pregnancy, Maria reports experiencing complications, struggling to access regular prenatal care, and fearing another pregnancy loss after previously experiencing a stillbirth.
The lawmakers also discuss reports of inadequate access to clean water, adequate food, menstrual products, safe sleeping conditions, and medical care across immigration detention facilities.
These concerns extend beyond Eloy, including reports involving pregnant migrant children who were reportedly transferred to San Benito, Texas—where abortion is banned—in order to deny them abortion care.
“Pregnancy doesn’t stop at the detention center door,” says Mini. “Medical emergencies don’t wait, and access to reproductive health care should never depend on someone’s immigration status or whether they’re being held in federal custody.”
ICE has demonstrated a pattern of abuse under the Trump administration. Despite federal policy stating that pregnant and postpartum people should only be detained in limited circumstances, hundreds have been detained and deported.
There have been multiple reports of ICE forcing pregnant people to navigate pregnancy under dangerous and inhumane conditions, denying them basic medical care, including abortion access, and reportedly “losing count” of miscarriages in custody.
This is state-sanctioned reproductive violence.
Together, Mini and Reps. Dexter and Grijalva examine the broader reproductive freedom crisis in immigration detention and beyond—the urgent need for accountability, and what it will take to protect our health, rights, and freedoms.
We strongly condemn the Trump administration’s cruel actions against pregnant people.
3 Ways to Take Action Now
Free Maria from ICE Custody!
Sign our petition calling for Maria Alejandra Valero Brinez's release and call out the Trump administration for their cruel mistreatment of pregnant people in detention.
Tell your lawmakers to end ICE violence
Lawmakers must oppose any new or continued funding for ICE and Border Patrol until meaningful reforms are in place to stop the violence, abuse, and deaths in our communities. Message your lawmakers now.
Join the Repro for All Volunteer Elections Team
We're pulling out all the stops to ensure voters get out and vote for reproductive freedom candidates up and down the ballot, and we need your help to make it happen!
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ABOUT THE PODCAST
MY BODY. MY POD. WITH MINI TIMMARAJU.
The fight for reproductive freedom is more urgent than ever.
That’s why we’re bringing you My Body. My Pod. with Mini Timmaraju, a reproductive freedom podcast.
If you’re into building a nationwide movement to protect and expand health justice, reproductive equity, and the power of people to control their own lives, this show is for you.
Hear from leaders and changemakers who share wisdom from the front lines, stories of the real struggles people are facing every day, and a vision for the future we’re determined to win.
Hosted by Mini Timmaraju, President and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All. Available on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Reproductive Freedom for All is made up of members across the country who believe that everybody should be free to control their own bodies and lives—and we want you to be a part of it.
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