Her baby was in the NICU. She was in ICE detention.
Nayra Guzmán, a 22-year-old Mexican immigrant with a pending asylum application, was detained by ICE agents just 15 days after a difficult C-section delivery, while her newborn daughter remained in the NICU struggling to breathe and eat independently. During her 34 hours in the Broadview Processing Center — a temporary facility not designed for extended detention — Guzmán received almost no food or water, was never assessed by a medical professional, had no access to a breast pump despite trying to produce milk for her hospitalized infant, and spent the night freezing on a hard bench while managing C-section pain and Type 1 diabetes with only the supplies she had in her backpack. Medical experts described the conditions as dangerous and potentially life-threatening for someone two weeks out of major surgery, noting that the detention also deprived her newborn of critical early bonding shown to support brain development. Guzmán was released after lawyers successfully petitioned a judge, but the ordeal left lasting consequences: her breast milk dried up, she fell ill after release, she missed nearly a week of visits with her daughter, and she now lives in fear of re-detention despite having no active deportation order against her.