Migrant woman who gave birth at Tucson hospital released by CBP Saturday

A 24-year-old Guatemalan woman and her newborn were released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Saturday afternoon after federal officials decided not to quickly deport her to Mexico and instead allow her to pursue her case with an immigration court.

Earlier, they reportedly told her she faced immediate deportation and would have to choose whether to keep her baby with her.

A CBP spokesman said the woman crossed into the U.S. from Mexico near Tres Bellotas Ranch, about 10 miles east of Sasabe, Ariz.  She was about eight months pregnant, and told agents said she had walked for nearly two days before U.S. Border Patrol agents took her into custody. 

She was taken to BP’s Tucson Station, and during a medical evaluation agents decided to take her to Tucson Medical Center, where doctors induced her labor and she gave birth at the hospital. 

On Thursday, a CBP spokesman told the Arizona Daily Star the woman could face “expedited removal,” and she would be given a choice to leave her newborn baby in the U.S., or bring the children with her. As a natural born U.S. citizen, the newborn child could not be deported.

However, by Friday afternoon, the agency agreed to release her, and by Saturday afternoon she was sent to stay with a nonprofit group in the Phoenix area, said attorney Luis Campos during an interview with the Tucson Sentinel. 

Pima County Attorney Laura Conover said she was “informed by my law enforcement partners in the federal government that the young mother who gave birth at Tucson Medical Center has been reunited with her newborn and taken to a Phoenix non-governmental organization where they have been released to the NGO’s care.” 

“This is exactly the kind of circumstance that humanitarian exceptions to the law are meant for,” Conover said. “I thank the staff at TMC and the community for showing once again the compassion Tucson is known for.”

The woman’s release comes after days of widening controversy over the woman’s detention inside the hospital after Campos attempted to speak with his client and was blocked by Border Patrol agents outside of her room. The attorney immediately contacted public officials as well as the Daily Star about the incident.

Campos would not provide the Sentinel with the woman’s name for fear she could face retribution in the coming weeks, including harassment from anti-immigrant groups.

A CBP spokesman said she remained under medical care until she was discharged, and would remain in their custody under she was given at notice to appear — a court document that acts as the first step in deportation proceedings. 

Inside the hospital this week, BP agents demanded Campos present a signed G-28 form — identifying him as her attorney — in order to speak with her, but refused to allow him to present the document to her, or allow a doctor or another advocate to do so.

CBP officials defended the agents’ actions. 

“Under U.S. law, there is no statutory right to an attorney in immigration proceedings until a notice to appear has been issued,” said a CBP spokesman. He added that after the woman was discharged from the hospital “formal processing was completed and she was issued an NTA, after which she was immediately given the opportunity to contact an attorney.” 

“At all times, agents followed the law and adhered to CBP procedures. No entitlements were denied,” he said. 

“This morning, custody of the woman was transferred to ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations with a court date to appear before an immigration judge,” the spokesman said. “The child remains with the mother.”

ACLU: ‘Increasingly common abuse of power’

ICE officials have removed to deport parents and their U.S.-born children in recent weeks, engaging in what the American Civil Liberties Union in Louisiana and others called a “shocking — although increasingly common — abuse of power.” 

And, on April 26, three children born in the U.S. — including a 4-year-old suffering from a rare cancer — were deported to Honduras with their parents, the Associated Press reported. 

On May 1, a Cuban woman was deported by U.S. officials after she went to a scheduled check-in with ICE, and was forced to leave her 17-month-old daughter in the U.S., NBC News reported. 

Further, as part of his broad assault against immigrants, President Donald Trump claimed the U.S. faces an “invasion” and moved to shutter the nation’s asylum protections, requiring CBP officials to quickly deport most migrants. 

In February, the ACLU — joined by the Arizona-based Florence Immigration & Refuge Rights Project and others — sued the Trump administration over the measure. 

“This is an unprecedented power grab that will put countless lives in danger,” said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. “No president has the authority to unilaterally override the protections Congress has afforded those fleeing danger.” 

During his first term, Trump attempted a similar policy, but was rebuffed by the courts. 

“Just as he did in his first term, the president is attempting to rewrite our laws by executive fiat and impose an illegal policy of mass expulsions,” said Melissa Crow, director of litigation at the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies. 

“This time around, his administration has fully embraced racist conspiracy theories, declaring that families, children, and adults seeking safety somehow constitute a hostile ‘invasion.’ The administration cannot use this lie as justification to circumvent our laws, which allow people in the United States or arriving at the southern border to seek asylum and prohibit our government from returning refugees to countries where they face persecution or torture,” Crow said. 

As the latest local issue unfolded, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero weighed in, noting that the new mother was facing an  “‘expedited removal process’ as a result of Trump’s unnecessarily cruel executive order that incorrectly declares there is an ‘invasion” at our Southern border.'” 

“People in the United States, regardless of legal status, have a fundamental right to due process that has been reaffirmed by the Supreme Court as recently as April 7, 2025,” Romero said. “Denying this mother access to legal representation is both inhumane and a violation of her basic rights.”

“I am deeply concerned about the consequences of this federal overreach. It is unacceptable to treat a medical facility as an extension of xenophobic policies, especially when a newborn’s health and safety are at stake. I urge the federal government, and its agencies, to act with compassion and respect for due process,” the elected Tucson Democrat said. 

Campos told the Tucson Sentinel on Saturday that he spoke to his client around 9 p.m. on Friday night and she said she was being released by the agency with a notice to appear.

Campos credited the woman’s release from CBP custody to a “community effort” that brought pressure against federal officials.

“We have seen this government has been less interested in humanitarian issues, but with the pressure from the community, including statements from Tucson’s mayor and the county attorney, and stories from the press, we have been able to convince the authorities to release her,” the attorney said said. “This is really good news.”