1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

I am writing to demand the immediate release of every child currently held in ICE detention, including 2-month-old Juan Nicolas at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas. The conditions at Dilley have reached a crisis point that puts children's lives at risk. On January 18, 2025, 18-month-old Amalia was rushed to Methodist Children's Hospital in San Antonio with pneumonia, COVID-19, RSV, and blood oxygen levels in the 50s, a life-threatening emergency. She had been healthy before her family's arrest in December 2024. After 10 days hospitalized on oxygen, immigration officers returned her to Dilley on January 28 despite medical warnings that she remained medically vulnerable and at high risk of reinfection. Federal officials then denied Amalia access to prescribed breathing treatments delivered by nebulizer, confiscating her albuterol and nutritional supplements. Her parents waited for hours in outdoor pill lines in the cold, only to be turned away. A physician reviewing her case warned she faced a high risk for medical decompensation and death. Hours after an emergency habeas corpus petition was filed on Friday, the family was freed, but ICE failed to turn over her prescriptions or birth certificate. Health officials have now confirmed two measles cases among people held at Dilley. Sworn declarations from dozens of parents describe children suffering contaminated food, inadequate medical care, weight loss, recurring illness, and severe psychological trauma. A 2-month-old infant like Juan Nicolas has no capacity to understand why he is imprisoned and faces the same dangerous conditions that nearly killed Amalia. These children have committed no crime. Detaining them serves no legitimate government interest that outweighs the documented harm to their health and development. I demand you take immediate action to secure the release of Juan Nicolas and every other child held at Dilley and all ICE family detention facilities. Their lives depend on it.