US paves way to hold more pregnant women in immigration jail

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Trump administration says pregnant women charged with being in the United States illegally will no longer receive special considerations that allowed them to be released while their cases wind through immigration court.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Thursday that it scrapped a policy late last year that had been in effect since August 2016. The policy change was only announced this week.

Pregnant women were generally released unless there were other legal reasons to keep them in custody or if there were “extraordinary circumstances.”

The new policy gives no special consideration to pregnancy, though the agency says women in their third trimester will generally be released.

Officials say it’s unclear how many women who would have been released under the old policy will now be held.