Stop ICE from Locking Children in Detention
Friends, I want to bring to your attention again what is happening to people, including children, inside immigration detention under the Trump administration.
The reports are horrifying. Children detained at the family detention center in Dilley, Texas, have described crying at night, struggling to sleep, feeling imprisoned, getting sick, and missing the ordinary lives they had before detention.1
Congress should be paying close attention. Congress has broad authority over immigration law and federal appropriations, including funding connected to immigration detention and enforcement. 23
In August, an analysis of federal government data found that at least 60 children had been held at the Dilley detention center for 100 days or longer.4
One 16-year-old who had experienced prolonged detention wrote:
“It is slowly killing us on the inside.”
That same investigation documented families reporting deteriorating mental health, concerns about medical treatment, and children struggling with the effects of detention even after their release.
Dr. Sural Shah, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Council on Immigrant Child and Family Health, put the concern plainly:
“There’s no humane way to detain a child.”
The children themselves have given us some of the most disturbing accounts.
A nine-year-old girl detained at Dilley wrote that she cried every night after arriving, had fainted twice, was having trouble sleeping, and blamed herself for being detained.5
“I felt that being here was my fault.”
Another 12-year-old child wrote that she had already spent more than 60 days detained and complained about repetitive meals and becoming sick while inside the facility.
More recently, reporting documented families at Dilley receiving outside donations to their commissary accounts so they could purchase food and other necessities. One pregnant mother said she was losing weight because she struggled to eat the facility’s food, while her young daughter barely ate and suffered from diarrhea.6
A nonprofit helping detained families was reportedly sending more than $10,000 per week to commissary accounts for food and other essentials. Its co-founder summarized what her organization is demanding:
“We are saying stop locking up children.”
The federal government disputes allegations that people at Dilley are being denied adequate necessities. DHS has said detainees receive clean water and three meals a day evaluated by certified dietitians, while the company operating the facility has said it provides necessities including bedding, hygiene products and showers and that its food and water meet applicable standards.
Those official statements deserve to be scrutinized alongside the firsthand accounts of children and parents describing what detention has actually felt like for them.
Children are telling us they are scared. They are telling us they cannot sleep. They are telling us they feel trapped. Some have remained confined for months.
Their words deserve congressional scrutiny.
Congress should examine how long children are being detained, what conditions they are experiencing, whether existing standards are being followed, and what alternatives to prolonged family detention are available.
Take Action» Demand Congress Stop ICE from Locking Children in Detention
Most importantly, these children should not disappear from public view simply because they are being held behind the walls of an immigration detention facility.
Millions of us have already shown what people power looks like when we stand together. On October 17, we take the next step: No Kings: Vote Early.
Across the country, communities have filled streets and public spaces to defend our rights, freedoms, and democracy. Those moments reminded us of a powerful truth:
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Now we carry that energy from the streets to the ballot box.
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Keep making good trouble! Go be awesome today. Do you know why? Because you are!
Laurie Woodward Garcia
(paid with hugs and kisses, not bought by special interests)
Leader, People Power United
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https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/02/25/the-children-of-dilley/
https://www.congress.gov/crs-products/product/pdf/R/R46417
https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artI-S8-C18-8-1/ALDE_00001255/
https://www.texastribune.org/2026/08/12/texas-immigration-ice-detention-children-dilley/
https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/02/25/the-children-of-dilley/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2026/09/02/california-mom-sends-10000-week-buy-food-kids-ice-detention/
The United States of America has become INCARCERATION NATION. We have no claim to the land of the free and the home of the brave. Trump and his minions have only amplified the hatred that powers our self inflicted hate engine.
It is a disgrace what the US is doing to children and their families. DESTROYING LIVES and leaving SCARS that will last with these children forever. It is CRUELTY . SHAME on the Trump administration. 🥲