Saturday, November 10, 2007

Breastfeeding mom and baby separated by immigration agents

In an unusual case in Ohio, immigration agents detained a mother who had been breastfeeding her nine-month-old daughter during the moment of her arrest.

Though officials were looking for her brother-in-law, 27-year-old Sayda Umanzor was detained along with her husband and a five-year-old son. She remained under custody in a pair of local jails for three days with soreness in her breasts while her daughter did not get her mother’s milk.

The Umanzor case has led Immigration and Customs Enforcement to change the policy on breastfeeding mothers to give them more consideration and better “address caregiver issues.” For Umanzor it will be too little too late since she, her husband, and son expected to be deported to Honduras. It’s unmentioned who will take custody of the couple’s baby and a 3-year-old daughter who are U.S. citizens.

Sources- cleveland.com, International Herald Tribune

Image- Earth Mamas Web (The international symbol for breastfeeding)

1 comment:

Pump style backpack said...

This is really very bad on immigration agents part, I am really very angry. Such agents should be punished.

Sarah