The Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas, a facility run by private prison firm CoreCivic, has been reopened by the Trump administration and now holds hundreds of families, including children, often beyond the 20-day limit set by court order, according to multiple reports. The compound first opened during Barack Obama’s administration and was reopened under Trump after being closed under Biden. Nearly 600 immigrant children have been held at Dilley with inadequate food and medical care, often beyond court-mandated limits, according to court documents. About 5,600 immigrants, more than half of them children, have been detained at Dilley since it reopened last year, major media reported. The number of detained families at Dilley dropped temporarily to roughly 100 in February from over 900 in January, according to major media. More than 300 people, including 77 children, are currently locked up at Dilley, advocates and lawmakers said.
Emergency crews were dispatched to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center at least 11 times between mid-September 2025 and February 2026 for children in medical distress, according to call logs reviewed by ProPublica and NBC News. The 911 calls involved children ranging from 2 months to 13 years old, research indicated. Most calls involved low oxygen levels and respiratory distress, research showed. In at least three cases, children were transferred more than an hour away to a pediatric hospital in San Antonio. In one case involving a 22-month-old in respiratory distress, first responders wanted to fly him by helicopter but couldn't due to bad weather, research indicated. Parents of a toddler with low oxygen refused to be transported, research showed. A 2-month-old boy with bronchitis was deported to Mexico with his mother and sister after being released from a hospital. ICE confirmed at least two measles cases inside the facility last month, according to major media. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro said at a press conference that medical care has been denied and detainees are treated like animals. However, Dr. Sean Conley, DHS Chief Medical Officer, stated in an official statement that allegations of denied medical care are false and that detainees receive timely and appropriate care. A CoreCivic spokesperson also stated that no child has been denied medical treatment.
A 19-year-old asylum seeker from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Olivia, has been detained at Dilley for more than four months, according to major media. A Venezuelan mother of two, Flora, was allegedly trafficked to the US and is being unlawfully detained by ICE, separated from her children, while her alleged trafficker remains free, her lawyers said. TSA staff alerted ICE to a Guatemalan mother and her daughter at San Francisco International Airport, leading to their arrest, according to government documents obtained by The New York Times. ICE failed to ask deported parents about their children, violating its own policies, according to a report by the Women's Refugee Commission and Physicians for Human Rights. A 22-year-old pregnant woman was deported to Honduras without being asked about her two-year-old daughter, the report said. A 27-year-old woman arrested at a traffic light was deported without being asked about her 11-year-old son, the report added. A 3-year-old girl was allegedly sexually abused while in foster care after being separated from her mother by immigration officials, according to court documents and the father's lawyer.
An American woman, Janie Pérez, moved to Mexico with her undocumented husband after he was detained by ICE, to keep the family together, according to major media. A Texas court interpreter, Meenu Batra, was arrested by ICE at Harlingen Airport and claims she was treated like a criminal, humiliated, and denied food and medication, according to Batra and her attorney. The Trump administration sent a government plane to Cuba to return a 10-year-old child at the center of a custody fight involving gender identity, major media reported.
Democratic lawmakers report that the Dilley facility has become more secretive under new DHS leadership, with staff reading from scripts and refusing to answer questions, according to Rep. Joaquin Castro and Rep. Greg Casar. The number of detained families at Dilley dropped temporarily to roughly 100 in February from over 900 in January, according to major media. More than 300 people, including 77 children, are currently locked up at Dilley, advocates and lawmakers said.
The number of people in ICE custody has exploded since Trump returned to the White House, with more than 60,000 people being held, according to major media. The Dilley facility is part of a broader immigration enforcement crackdown that has drawn criticism from human rights groups and Democratic lawmakers.