1. United States
2. Conn.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to investigate the conditions at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas and advocate for its immediate closure. Recent reporting reveals that children are suffering serious harm in this facility, which violates both basic human rights standards and the 1997 legal settlement limiting children's detention to 20 days. Since reopening under the current administration, approximately 3,500 detainees have cycled through Dilley, more than half of them minors. Data analysis shows about 300 children were held for more than a month, with some detained over 100 days. These are not children arriving at the border but established residents like 14-year-old Ariana Velasquez from Hicksville, New York, who was detained for 45 days after a routine ICE check-in she and her mother had been attending for years. The documented conditions are alarming. RAICES, a Texas nonprofit, has recorded at least 700 instances of inadequate medical care since August 2025. An 18-month-old baby, Amalia Arrieta, developed pneumonia and bronchitis after two weeks of insufficient treatment. Two measles cases were recently discovered at the facility. Multiple children reported finding worms and mold in food. Nine-year-old Maria Antonia Guerra drew a self-portrait with the note, "I am not happy, please get me out of here," and reported fainting twice. Several mothers reported children cutting themselves or talking about suicide. The vast majority of adults detained at Dilley had no criminal record in the U.S. Many had filed asylum applications, married U.S. citizens, or been granted humanitarian parole. Seven-year-old Diana Crespo from Portland, Oregon was detained with her parents outside a hospital where they had taken her for emergency care, despite having humanitarian parole and an active asylum case. I ask that you call for an immediate independent investigation of conditions at Dilley, demand compliance with the 20-day detention limit for children, and advocate for ending family detention. Children like Ariana, who cared for her two younger siblings in New York while detained, deserve better than this treatment in our country.