A pregnant woman in Massachusetts, Iara do Carmo Santana, 29, was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after her fiancé called 911 during a mental health crisis following her miscarriage, raising concerns about how vulnerable people are treated when emergency services are involved. The case has drawn scrutiny because the call for medical and psychological help resulted in her arrest by local police and subsequent handover to federal immigration authorities, rather than the hospital care her family said they wanted.

Do Carmo Santana had suffered a miscarriage in August that required surgery and led to an infection, leaving her struggling with depression. On 4 September, after an argument with her fiancé, Gabriel Lemos, police arrested her on assault charges before ICE took her into custody at a detention centre in Burlington, where she says she was denied medication and adequate medical care; a federal judge later ordered her release, citing health concerns, while ICE has denied allegations of poor conditions at the facility.