The Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas has detained hundreds of children, many for months, since being reopened by the Trump administration, according to reports. ICE has been holding children at Dilley well beyond the 20-day limit set by a longstanding court order, according to advocates. About 5,600 immigrants, more than half of them children, have been detained at Dilley since it reopened last year, according to government data. The compound first opened during Barack Obama's administration and was reopened under Trump after being closed under Biden, according to historical records. Nearly 600 immigrant children have been held at Dilley with inadequate food and medical care, often beyond court-mandated limits, according to court documents. 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 ICE data.
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. Children at Dilley experienced respiratory distress, seizures, low oxygen levels, broken bones, and severe fever, the logs show. In at least three cases, children were transferred more than an hour away to a pediatric hospital in San Antonio, according to the logs. A 22-month-old in respiratory distress was so serious that first responders wanted to fly him by helicopter but couldn't due to bad weather, according to three research sources. Parents of a toddler with low oxygen refused to be transported, according to the same sources. A 2-month-old named Juan Nicolás was taken to a hospital with a respiratory illness after his mother said he choked on his own vomit; the family was later deported to Mexico, according to research sources. Liam Conejo Ramos, a five-year-old, was detained at Dilley with his father and became ill and lethargic in custody, according to 20 media reports. A two-year-old girl's parents say she was denied medicine as her health deteriorated at Dilley, according to the parents. ICE confirmed at least two measles cases inside the facility last month, according to ICE. 911 calls involved children aged 2 months to 13 years, with most involving low oxygen levels and respiratory distress, according to three research sources.
Many detainees at Dilley have lived in the U.S. for several years and have roots in communities, according to 20 media reports. 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 Olivia. A Venezuelan mother of two, Flora, was allegedly trafficked to the US and has been unlawfully detained by ICE, according to Flora's lawyers. Flora's alleged trafficker is free while she is detained, according to her lawyers. ICE failed to ask parents about their children before deportation, 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, according to the report. A 27-year-old woman arrested at a traffic light was not asked about her children before deportation, according to the same report. The Trump administration revised Biden-era guidelines for detained parents, changing from allowing parents to decide if children join them to only supporting arrangements if 'operationally feasible,' according to two media reports. A US citizen, Janie Pérez, moved to Mexico with her undocumented husband after he was detained by ICE, according to 41 media reports. An estimated 1.1 million US citizens are married to an undocumented person, according to official estimates. 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. The girl's father, a legal permanent resident, was not told about the abuse for months, according to the father. 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, according to 20 media reports. The child's parent, Rose Inessa-Ethington, a transgender woman, is accused of taking the child to Cuba without permission for gender transition surgery, according to a criminal complaint.
TSA alerted ICE about 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. Under the Trump administration, TSA is providing ICE with names and birth dates of travelers believed to have been ordered removed, according to 20 media reports.
A Texas court interpreter, Meenu Batra, was arrested by ICE at Harlingen Airport and said she was treated like a criminal, according to Batra. Batra was granted withholding of removal status in 2000, according to her attorney.
Democratic lawmakers report that the Dilley facility has become more secretive under new DHS leadership and that conditions remain cruel, according to Rep. Joaquin Castro and other Democratic members of Congress. A CoreCivic spokesperson said no child has been denied medical treatment. DHS Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sean Conley stated that allegations of denied medical care are false and that detainees receive timely and appropriate care.