Sayda Umanzor, 27, was detained for three days before the jail staff where she was being held knew she was breastfeeding, and before Umanzor was able to communicate with her family.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

The denial of mother's milk to the child of an illegal immigrant has outraged local immigration advocates, Latino civic leaders, and moms. They say a baby went hungry and a mother suffered engorged breasts and emotional trauma while being detained for nearly two weeks for a non-violent offense.

"Breast-feeding moms have special needs. And it's not a simple thing," said Lucia Stone, a Spanish-speaking representative of the La Leche League of Ohio.

 

Stone said she experienced frustration trying to reach Umanzor in federal detention with a breast pump, and never did get milk back to the baby.

The incident, certainly not the first of its kind, spurred ICE to speed up efforts to enact a policy to ensure more breastfeeding mothers and children don't suffer. According to the Associated Press (via the International Herald Tribune):

Greg Palmore, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, said the agency approved Wednesday a new policy to address the needs of breast-feeding mothers.

 

"It basically ensures that you take humanitarian issues involving nursing moms into consideration," he said Friday. "It also ensures we make contact with state social service agencies to address caregiver issues."

Umanzor was released from detention after 11 days and fitted with an ankle bracelet monitor so she can be at home with her daughter until she is deported.

UPDATE: The ICE memo on the new policy is now available here. 

To read more about health and safety conditions women face in immigrant detention, read NIJC's brief to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Migrants, submitted last April for the rapporteur's U.S. visit. The Detention Watch Network also has a useful fact sheet on alternatives to detention.