Pregnant Woman Fights ICE Detention

0:00A pregnant 25-year-old woman named Valeria Mendoza Santiago got briefly locked up by ICE agents last month in an Alaska women's prison. Her lawyers fought back quick. Using the agency's own rules that say, pregnant folks shouldn't be detained unless it's a rare case. They won her temporary release, and now her story's heading to federal court up there. Alaska ain't got its own federal detention spot, so the state rents out jails for ICE hold. The records show 47 people nabbed by immigration enforcement and stashed in those spots this year, one every couple days. Mendoza Santiago is one of just three women caught, including another mom shipped back to Mexico with her kids. She's from Mexico, crossed over in 2021, to link up with her husband in Anchorage. They built a life jobs, school for their son, family time. But under the recent immigration push, her hubby got grabbed dropping the kid off at school. He stuck in a Washington detention center fighting for, asylum. She fears heading home over violence threats.

1:02Lawyers hit the courts overnight, scoring a judge's order around 2 a.m. to block her transfer out of state. Feds argue those pregnancy guidelines ain't hard. Law claim they didn't know she was expecting it first, and say the issue's done since she's out for. Now, Mendoza Santiago is back home with her son in in-laws, but the clock's ticking on her case, with real worries about getting snatched again or split. From her family for good, stay informed with Anchorage News today, AI-powered updates. I'm Corey with The Story.