DILLEY, TEXAS — Court documents filed in the Western District of Texas allege that officials at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Dilley, Texas, denied recommended medical care to detainee Hayman El Gamal, a mother of five who was later transferred to an emergency room in what her attorney described as excruciating pain. A CT scan conducted during that emergency visit found fluid around her heart, a condition known as pericardial effusion, according to the court filings.

El Gamal had been requesting medical attention for an abnormal growth causing severe pain since Feb. 17, according to a court document filed by attorney Eric Lee. The filing states that a doctor at the Dilley facility recommended a CT scan for a lump in El Gamal's chest, but center officials refused to order it. After the emergency room visit, an emergency room doctor recommended an ultrasound, but the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and CoreCivic denied that request as well, the court filings state.

Lee asked three physicians to independently review El Gamal's medical records, according to the court document. The physicians concluded that she should receive further testing for cancer, autoimmune disease, and cardiac issues. They also concluded that ICE and CoreCivic were systematically denying El Gamal medical care, posing an urgent threat to her health and potentially her life, the filing states.

El Gamal and her children, ages 5 to 18, were detained on June 3 following the arrest of their father, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, who is charged in connection with a fatal firebomb attack in Colorado. Soliman is accused of throwing two Molotov cocktails at demonstrators calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. The United States government is seeking to deport El Gamal and her children.

El Gamal and her children have been detained at Dilley for more than ten months, making them the family held there the longest, Lee said. Under a court settlement, children cannot be detained longer than twenty days, but the U.S. government repeatedly violates this rule, he said. Lee also asked the court to reunite El Gamal with her oldest daughter, Habiba Soliman, who was separated from the family at the center when she turned eighteen, so she can care for her younger siblings.

CoreCivic said it could not comment specifically on El Gamal's case because of ongoing litigation and medical privacy issues. DHS and ICE did not respond to requests for comment on El Gamal's case and the children's detention. DHS has previously said that parents and children are housed in facilities that provide for their safety, security, and medical needs, and that families at the facilities have access to full medical staff, including a pediatrician. DHS has also previously characterized allegations about poor care as lies spread by the media.