The Trump administration continues to push its immigration policy further each day, to the point where even some American citizens are no longer spared.
Cary Lopez Alvarado, a U.S. citizen who is nine months pregnant, was arrested this past weekend by federal agents in Hawthorne, California.
The arrest, which has sparked outrage, is part of the Trump administration’s increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement efforts.
According to NBC Los Angeles, cited by HuffPost, Lopez Alvarado was apprehended by agents who arrived in Border Patrol vehicles, despite her repeatedly telling them she was a U.S. citizen. After her arrest, she was taken to the hospital due to abdominal pain.
Doctors are now closely monitoring her condition and that of her unborn child.
Lopez Alvarado said the agents had followed her husband and his colleague — both undocumented — to their workplace.
Attempting to block the agents from entering, she reportedly told them they were on “private property.” The agents then accused her of obstructing the arrests. “I had lost my balance because he was pushing me away from the door,” she told NBC News Los Angeles. “That’s when I leaned forward, trying to protect my stomach” (NBC Los Angeles).
Although she was released shortly afterward, Lopez Alvarado had to seek medical attention due to ongoing pain. “I wasn’t resisting or anything,” she said. “I can’t fight back; I’m pregnant” (NBC Los Angeles).
The Department of Homeland Security has not responded to media inquiries about the incident.
This case once again raises concerns about the treatment of pregnant women in immigration detention facilities.
During Donald Trump’s first term, BuzzFeed News reported cases of pregnant detainees being shackled around the abdomen or denied essential medical care, HuffPost recalled.
Lopez Alvarado’s experience adds to a growing number of incidents in which U.S. citizens have been mistakenly detained during large-scale immigration operations. Critics continue to condemn the administration’s immigration tactics as harsh and indiscriminate, at times targeting individuals who are fully compliant with U.S. law.
