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In recent months, close to 600 immigrant children have been detained at a family detention center in Texas, experiencing insufficient food, inadequate medical care, and a lack of mental health services. This has occurred as their stay extended beyond the time limits set by court mandates, according to documents submitted to the court on Friday.
Among those detained at the Dilley detention facility were 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, who faced virus outbreaks and prolonged lockdowns during December and January. These conditions have persisted, even as the number of children at the facility has decreased in recent weeks, as detailed in attorney reports and observations from site visits.
Liam Conejo Ramos’s case attracted significant attention, particularly because of his young age and the circumstances under which he was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minnesota, wearing a blue bunny hat. His situation sparked outrage and protests against the Trump administration’s stringent immigration policies, with detainees inside Dilley expressing their dissent by holding signs within the fenced yards.
Despite a decrease in numbers, with approximately 85 children still held at Dilley last week, the troubling conditions remain, according to Mishan Wroe, a directing attorney at the National Center for Youth Law, who visited in mid-March. Earlier, in February, a legal advocate noted the presence of about 280 children.
The recent filings relate to a lawsuit initiated in 1985, which culminated in the 1997 establishment of court-ordered standards, including a 20-day limit on custody. The Trump administration, however, is seeking to terminate the Flores settlement, which underpins these protections.
“For years, the Flores consent decree has been a tool of the left that is antithetical to the law and wastes valuable U.S. taxpayer funded resources,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. “Being in detention is a choice.”
Attorneys for detainees highlighted the government’s data showing longer custody times for immigrant children, and also cited worms in food, and poor access to medical care or sufficient legal counsel as reported by families and monitors at federal facilities.
“Dilley remains a hellhole,” said Leecia Welch, the chief legal director at Children’s Rights, who visits Dilley regularly to ensure compliance. “Although the number of children has decreased, the suffering remains the same.”
Dilley is retrofitted for families, who receive basic necessities including adequate food and water while in detention, and the Trump administration is working to quickly deport detainees, the DHS spokesperson added.
A report from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement showed that about 595 immigrant children were held in custody for more than the 20-day limit in December and January, with some stretching into months, per the filing.
“Approximately 265 of these children were detained for more than 50 days and a shocking 55 children were detained more than 100 days,” the filing stated.
That is up from a previous government disclosure late last year that showed from August to September, 400 children had been held at Dilley beyond the 20-day limit. DHS did not respond to questions seeking comment on the data.
Chief U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee of the Central District of California is scheduled to have a hearing on the case later this month.