1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

I am writing to demand the immediate closure of the Dilley Immigration Processing Center and accountability for officials responsible for the inhumane treatment of children and families detained there. The case of 18-month-old Amalia, detailed in a federal lawsuit filed on January 31, 2025, exposes conditions that violate basic human rights. Amalia was healthy when immigration officers arrested her family in El Paso in December 2024. After transfer to Dilley, she developed pneumonia, COVID-19, RSV, and life-threatening respiratory failure. On January 18, she was hospitalized for 10 days with blood oxygen levels in the 50s, a medical emergency. Despite doctors' warnings that she remained medically vulnerable, officials returned her to detention on January 28 and confiscated her prescribed nebulizer, albuterol, and nutritional supplements. Her parents were forced to wait hours in the cold at the "pill line" only to be denied the breathing medication doctors ordered. Medical experts warned she faced a "high risk for medical decompensation and death." This family had complied with every requirement. They entered through the CBP One appointment system, checked in regularly with immigration officials, and participated in an alternative-to-detention monitoring program. They were not flight risks or threats to public safety. Yet on December 11, when they reported for a routine check-in, they were detained and transferred 500 miles from their community. Sworn declarations from dozens of parents describe children at Dilley suffering contaminated food, inadequate medical care, weight loss, recurring illness, and psychological trauma. Two measles cases were recently confirmed at the facility. This treatment of children and families who have committed no crimes is unconscionable and violates our obligations under domestic and international law. I urge you to take immediate action to close Dilley and all family detention centers, and to pursue accountability through impeachment proceedings under Article 2, Section 4 of the Constitution against officials responsible for these policies. No child should face death because they sought safety in America.