It Shouldn’t Take a U.S. Senator to Free a Breastfeeding Mother
Opinion: It Shouldn’t Take a U.S. Senator to Free a Breastfeeding Mother from ICE Custody
By James Larsen, Managing Attorney
It should not require the intervention of a U.S. Senator—let alone one who has vocally supported mass deportation policies—for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release a 25-year-old mother who is breastfeeding her child.
And yet, that is exactly what happened in the case of Paola Clouatre, a Mexican citizen detained in May while attending a green card appointment in New Orleans. Despite being married to a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and nursing her baby, Paola spent nearly two months in ICE detention. She was finally released only after Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana—an outspoken Trump ally—stepped in.
This case is both heartwarming and infuriating. Heartwarming, because Paola is finally back with her family. Infuriating, because this release never should have required political intervention in the first place.
Under ICE’s own 2021 directive, detention of pregnant, postpartum, or nursing individuals is to be avoided unless exceptional circumstances exist or release is prohibited by law. The policy states plainly:
“Generally, ICE should not detain, arrest, or take into custody for an administrative violation of the immigration laws individuals known to be pregnant, postpartum, or nursing.”
This policy exists for a reason: medical vulnerability, family integrity, and basic human decency. Yet time and again, ICE has ignored it. In Paola’s case, she was detained after an immigration judge had already halted her deportation order. There was no legal urgency—only cruelty masked as enforcement.
The fact that a senator’s office had to intervene to correct what was clearly a misapplication of ICE’s own policies raises a disturbing question: What happens to nursing mothers who don’t have a senator advocating for them? How many quietly suffer, separated from their babies, enduring postpartum recovery in detention centers with limited medical care?
This isn't the first time, either. In 2019, ICE denied separating a nursing mother from her infant in Mississippi, despite conflicting accounts and no transparency about how postpartum status is actually verified or respected in detention. Now, in 2025, despite the existence of a comprehensive policy protecting postpartum individuals, we are still seeing ICE disregard its own guidelines—unless public pressure or political privilege forces a different outcome.
This kind of arbitrary enforcement violates more than policy; it undermines the principle of due process and the equal application of the law. A government that claims to value life and family should not be pulling breastfeeding mothers away from their infants—especially when those mothers have viable legal claims, as Paola does.
Senator Kennedy’s intervention may have reunited one family, but this is not justice—it is discretionary mercy. And mercy doled out by political favor is not a substitute for constitutional due process. The public should demand more: transparency, accountability, and strict adherence to the humane protections already embedded in ICE’s own policy.
Because in a just immigration system, it should never take a senator to do what basic decency—and the law—already requires.
Note: The author is an immigration attorney and advocate for family unity and due process.
Immigration law changes rapidly. This article is for informational purposes only, reflects the law as of its publication date, and may be superseded by later changes in the law, regulations or agency policy. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.La ley de inmigración cambia rápidamente. Este artículo es solo para fines informativos, refleja la ley a la fecha de su publicación y puede quedar superado por cambios posteriores en la ley, las regulaciones o las políticas de las agencias. No es asesoría legal, y leerlo no crea una relación abogado-cliente.