Turns out, the Supreme Court’s historic ruling on Roe v. Wade can be circumvented with a memo. The only catch —you have to be a migrant who came into the country illegally.
According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is taking steps to ensure all migrants in detention centers have access to abortion services. They are even prepared to transfer detainees out of state if local laws prohibit the act.
ICE Director Tae Johnson sent the memo…
“This memorandum serves as a reminder of existing ICE policies and standards requiring that pregnant individuals detained in ICE immigration custody have access to full reproductive health care,” the memo reads. “This is also a reminder that, pursuant to existing ICE policy, it may be necessary to transfer a detained pregnant individual within an area of responsibility (AOR) or to another AOR, when appropriate and practicable, in order to ensure such access.”
While ICE already helps provide abortion care in instances of rape, incest, or to save the mother, the new guidelines suggest that care will be expanded to include migrants waiting on asylum claims. According to The Daily Wire, “the…policy would take precedence in states with laws that strongly limit abortion, allowing abortions in states where they would otherwise be illegal.”
This memo is in stark contrast to former President Donald Trump’s policy position…
According to The Daily Wire, “Trump administration leaders sought to ban abortion procedures for minor women in detention by ICE, leading to a lengthy legal battle that ended in 2020 with a policy that prohibits Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) staff and staff employed by any ORR-funded shelter from blocking or interfering with an unaccompanied pregnant minor’s access to abortion.”
So the Biden Administration continues to make exceptions for migrants at the border. Americans witnessed similar behavior with COVID restrictions (or lack thereof).
As previously reported by The Drill Down, back in March, the DHS said they would expand migrant vaccinations in certain regions —but the plan was scrapped; some said migrant vaccinations were “optional.”
“It depends on the shift, to be honest,” one individual familiar with the matter told the Washington Free Beacon. “You talk to guys who work around midnight, and they’re not vaccinating anyone. It’s really more of an optional policy.”
“We’re getting steamrolled out here by the thousands,” one border officer said. “No, we are not vaccinating people.”
Meanwhile, Americans had to carry a vaccination pass and mask just to sit down for dinner.
There were 239,416 border encounters logged in May —can we really afford to grant universal abortion access? Will red-state governors fight back?
Stay tuned.
