Detained immigrant children still face concerning conditions at Texas facility, lawyers say
Source: AP
Updated 9:24 PM EDT, March 21, 2026
Nearly 600 immigrant children were held in a Texas family detention center in recent months without enough food, medical care or mental health services, as their time inside stretched beyond court-mandated limits, according to court documents filed Friday.
Children and families held in the Dilley detention facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father were sent earlier this year also faced virus outbreaks and lasting lockdowns in December and January, although the total number of children held at Dilley has fallen in recent weeks, according to the attorney’s reports and site visits.
The case of Ramos, a preschooler who was wearing a blue bunny hat when he was picked up in Minnesota by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, stirred protest over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, including among detainees who gathered and held up signs in the yard inside Dilley’s chain-link fences.
Last week about 85 children remained detained at Dilley, but concerning conditions continued, said Mishan Wroe, directing attorney at the National Center for Youth Law, who visited in mid-March. In early February, a legal advocate for the children observed about 280 children.
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