Human Impact Project

Children detained at the Dilley family detention center in South Texas have continued to face poor conditions, including inadequate medical care, contaminated food, overcrowded spaces, and limited legal access. The facility, reopened for family detentions under the Trump administration, has held more than 3,500 people, including over 1,700 children, with about 300 held beyond the legal 20-day limit; documented cases include 5-year-old twins held for eight months and a young girl who attempted suicide after a bond denial. In July 2026, pediatrician Dr. Anita Patel, visiting with a congressional delegation led by Rep. Joaquin Castro, said at least seven children have died in ICE custody or shortly after release and described conditions as child abuse and human rights violations, citing cases such as 5-year-old Alexander, found with a cord around his neck, and 9-year-old Kinec, whose autism worsened under confinement. As of the visit, 539 people were held at Dilley, including 84 families, 112 children and four pregnant women, up from 96 children in May.

A U.S. citizen and Latina woman named Maria, a citizen for seven years, was stopped by four ICE agents in unmarked vehicles while driving to pick up a birthday cake for her grandson in Salem, Oregon. Agents broke her car window, pulled her from the vehicle, and threw her to the ground, leaving only after finding her passport and telling her to renew it, without calling for medical help. She suffered a concussion, torn rotator cuff, and bruised ribs, and Salem Police told her family they could not investigate federal officer misconduct. On July 28, U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas cited her case at a congressional hearing in Houston, calling for body cameras on immigration agents and independent investigations when they injure people.

Amalia Arrieta, an 18-month-old from Venezuela, was detained with her mother Kheilin Valero Marcano following an ICE appointment in El Paso on December 11, 2025, and transferred to Dilley Immigration Processing Center. Over weeks, Amalia developed severe respiratory symptoms including high fevers, persistent cough, and dangerously low blood-oxygen levels (dropping to the 50s). On January 18, 2026, she was hospitalized at Methodist Children's Hospital in San Antonio for 10 days, diagnosed with pneumonia, COVID-19, RSV, and respiratory distress. Upon discharge on January 28, doctors prescribed her a nebulizer, respiratory medications, and nutritional supplements. When ICE returned her to Dilley, detention staff allegedly confiscated her prescribed medications and breathing equipment. Her parents were forced to wait in daily outdoor lines to request treatment, often being denied. After lawyers filed an emergency habeas corpus petition in federal court, the family was released on either January 31 or February 7, 2026.

Obeth Eduardo is currently in ICE custody. His sister Mariana is raising funds to cover attorney fees for his legal defense and case preparation. The family states this is the second time they are facing an ICE enforcement situation.

An 18-month-old girl named Amalia was hospitalized with respiratory failure, pneumonia, COVID-19, and RSV after being detained at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center with her parents. After 10 days of hospital treatment, she was returned to detention on January 28 and denied access to prescribed medication, despite medical warnings that she remained vulnerable. A federal lawsuit and emergency habeas corpus petition led to her release on February 7.

Amalia, an 18-month-old Venezuelan girl, arrived in the United States with her parents Kheilin Valero Marcano and Stiven Arrieta Prieto through the CBP One appointment system and was living in El Paso while awaiting asylum processing. On December 11, 2024, the family was arrested during a routine ICE check-in despite complying with all immigration requirements and checking in regularly. They were detained at Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas. In early January 2026, Amalia developed a high fever, vomiting, and breathing difficulties. Despite her parents' repeated requests for medical care at the facility's clinic, staff provided only Tylenol. On January 18, her oxygen levels dropped critically to the 50s, and she was rushed to Methodist Children's Hospital in San Antonio, where she was hospitalized for 10 days and diagnosed with pneumonia, COVID-19, RSV, and viral bronchitis. After discharge on January 28, doctors prescribed nebulized breathing treatments and nutritional supplements. ICE returned Amalia to Dilley detention instead of her prior community, where staff confiscated her nebulizer, albuterol, and nutritional supplements. Her parents were forced to wait daily in an outdoor 'pill line' and were frequently turned away without her prescribed medications. After her attorneys filed an emergency federal habeas corpus petition, the family was released in February 2026. Upon release, they were transported to a shelter in Laredo without her medications, birth certificate, vaccination records, or money for travel. Amalia developed behavioral changes after detention, crying when separated from her mother. Her case is one of more than 500 infants and toddlers under age three detained by ICE since January 2025, according to documentation by MS NOW and The Marshall Project.

Seven emergency habeas corpus petitions were filed in North Dakota federal courts over three months, coinciding with a 75% national increase in ICE detentions over the past year. The petitions challenge a new policy denying bond hearings to many individuals arrested in the interior of the U.S. Two cases resulted in the release of petitioners.

A group of more than 30 Hispanic Texans filed a federal lawsuit in the Southern District of Texas challenging ICE practices that detain U.S. citizens and require proof of citizenship for release. The lawsuit alleges that immigration authorities violate constitutional protections against unreasonable arrests and due process rights. The complaint references a January 9 ICE raid in Donna, Texas, where agents allegedly detained U.S. citizens at gunpoint without a judicial warrant.

Children detained at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas are experiencing contaminated food, minimal education, inadequate medical care, and severe psychological distress. Since April 2026, approximately 1,800 children have been detained at the facility, with some families remaining for over six months. Court filings and accounts from detained families document children suffering from illness, malnutrition, behavioral regression, nightmares, and trauma, with parents reporting food contamination, denial of medical care for serious conditions, limited schooling, and prison-like conditions including constant surveillance and crowded sleeping quarters.

ICE agents detained a father outside Mayra's Spanish Preschool and Daycare in Boise on Friday, February 6, 2026, after he dropped off his child. Multiple agents using unmarked vehicles and wearing masks blocked in the man without providing a warrant, instead showing him a picture and asking for identification. According to court records, the man had a misdemeanor theft charge from 2024 but no active cases or warrants at the time of detention. The incident alarmed parents and staff at the school, which serves children ages 18 months to 5 years.

According to an immigration coalition post, ICE denied asthma inhalers to a 12-year-old child for 9 days while claiming it was pending medical review. The child experienced an asthma attack during lights-out and was found unresponsive on the floor by guards at 6 AM.

A 7-year-old girl and her parents from Venezuela were detained by immigration agents outside a Portland hospital emergency department on January 16 while seeking emergency medical care for the child's prolonged nosebleed. After three weeks at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, the family was released on February 7, though Congresswoman Maxine Dexter stated she was unsure why ICE approved their release. The detention marked one of the first confirmed cases of an entire family detained in Oregon during the Trump administration's escalated deportation campaign.

Detainees at Otay Mesa Detention Center threw notes in bottles over facility fences to communicate allegations of poor conditions, including inadequate food, constant sickness, and indefinite detention without court hearings. Organizers collected the bottles containing written messages along with items like lotion bottles, deodorant bottles, and batteries. Rep. Juan Vargas attempted to inspect the facility to investigate the allegations but was denied entry by officials who cited ICE authority. Detainees' written messages referenced conditions including alleged use of small cages for discipline and inadequate medical care at the detention center.

Animal rescue organizations across Minnesota's Twin Cities continue to see a surge in pets needing care amid immigration enforcement, with Pet Haven in St. Paul processing roughly 360 animals and Animal Humane Society in Golden Valley documenting 7 surrendered pets. Two German Shepherds were left behind when a woman in Elk River was detained and transported to Texas, and veterinary appointment no-show rates have jumped from 20% to 40%. Pet Haven reports a recent uptick in surrendered animals from suburbs including Eagan, Apple Valley, Inver Grove Heights, Bloomington and Anoka, and says at least 237 families, mostly on the east side of the metro, have been sheltering with their pets without easy access to food or support. One dog, later named Otto, was found after surviving a month alone in an abandoned car in subzero cold.

Juan and Angel were stopped by ICE on February 6, 2026, while on their way to work and taken to the McCook detention center. Their family launched a fundraiser to help cover lost income and attorney fees while the two men remain detained.

A former worker at the Baltimore ICE detention facility provided internal documents and testimony describing severe overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and mistreatment of detainees. The whistleblower described detainees packed tightly together, inadequate sanitary supplies for women, blankets covered in filth, and staff making dehumanizing comments. The worker claims they were terminated after reporting these conditions to supervisors.

A federal judge in Louisiana ordered the immediate release of four men who were unlawfully re-detained by ICE after living in their communities for years while regularly checking in with the agency. U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that ICE failed to justify the re-detention, failed to show deportation was likely, and violated due process rights. The men had been detained again in summer 2025 and were held at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola before their release. The ruling drew public criticism from the Department of Homeland Security and the Louisiana Attorney General, who both said the men should not have been freed.

Fernando Viera Reyes, a 50-year-old detainee transferred to California City ICE Detention Facility in August 2025, was denied specialist care despite showing symptoms of prostate cancer. While at a previous ICE facility, Viera Reyes had been scheduled for a urologist-recommended prostate biopsy in March 2025. After his transfer, despite experiencing bloody urine, pain, difficulty urinating, and blood in stool, medical staff provided only Flomax intermittently and vitamin C instead of connecting him with a urologist. His PSA levels rose from 6.3 to 74 between January and October 2025, indicating very high likelihood of prostate cancer. A medical expert review described his treatment as "a complete dereliction of duty." On November 12, 2025, Viera Reyes filed an emergency motion and joined seven other detainees in a class-action lawsuit against the Trump administration alleging severe medical neglect at the privately-owned CoreCivic facility. By February 2026, the case was being heard in federal court in San Francisco.

A dog was left alone and frightened after his adopter was encountered by federal immigration officers and hospitalized, then prevented from contacting anyone. A hospital social worker alerted the Humane Society of Huron Valley, which rescued the dog. The adopter's current immigration status and whereabouts remain unknown.

ICE agents entered a San Antonio home on Thursday morning while searching for a 34-year-old man with an arrest warrant for illegal reentry. Homeowner Maggie Guillen recorded video showing armed agents entering without presenting a judicial warrant, despite women and children being present. According to Guillen, all people in the home were either U.S. citizens or had legal status. Agents had earlier pulled over her roommate and roommate's boyfriend at an unmarked vehicle, then followed them back to the home. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro called for an investigation into the incident.