DILLEY, TEXAS — Human Rights First and RAICES published a report on April 1 documenting medical neglect and rights violations of children detained at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas, which the Trump administration reactivated and expanded for family detention. The report, which Human Rights First and RAICES described as documenting a "new era of ICE family prisons," drew on interviews with 35 families held over the past year and more than 300 legal cases in which RAICES represented asylum seekers.

The report documents widespread medical neglect of children, including infants, under the care of CoreCivic, the private contractor operating Dilley. It describes more than a dozen family separations carried out by U.S. immigration authorities since President Donald Trump returned to office, with most incidents occurring at the facility, and alleges that due process violations have resulted in the summary deportation of children and families with credible asylum claims.

"At this moment, the atrocious medical neglect alone, separate from all other horrors, could be considered clear evidence of intentional harm," said Faisal al-Juburi, executive co-director of RAICES. In January, the average daily population at Dilley exceeded 900 people. By mid-March, it had dropped to less than 100 before increasing again. At least two families had been detained for over 100 days, more than five times the legal limit for detaining a child under the Flores Agreement.

In early April, a family of four from India who had lived in the Los Angeles area since 2022 had been detained at Dilley for nearly 50 days. Many families detained at the facility had established roots in the United States, according to Human Rights First.

In the early days of Trump's second term, his administration issued executive measures directing immigration enforcement actions toward children. The Department of Homeland Security revoked a Biden-era designation that had discouraged ICE and CBP from conducting operations in places where children gather, including playgrounds, day cares, and schools. The Executive Office for Immigration Review rescinded a Biden-era memorandum urging immigration judges to adopt child-friendly court procedures. A new ICE initiative directed agents to locate unaccompanied migrant children.

"The real common thread is a strategic and coordinated effort targeted specifically at children, with the goal of making life so unbearable for migrant families at every point of contact that they feel they have no choice but to leave," said Kica Matos, president of the National Center for Migrant Rights.

The Department of Homeland Security stated that all detainees have due process guarantees and receive adequate medical care, and denied that ICE targets children. A department spokesperson said any claim that an 18-month-old detainee identified in connection with the report did not receive her medication or proper medical treatment is false. The child had been transferred in early February from Dilley to a San Antonio hospital with critically low oxygen levels and spent more than a week in intensive care under the supervision of ICE agents before being returned to the facility.