“When we look back at this era in American history, we will look back in shame of the human rights abuses. Most particularly against children,” Castro said.
SAN ANTONIO — Democratic members of Congress are raising concerns about conditions inside a South Texas immigration detention facility following a visit Tuesday, calling for the release of detained families and the closure of the center.
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, a San Antonio Democrat, led a delegation that toured the Immigration and Customs Enforcement family detention facility in Dilley earlier in the day. Lawmakers said they observed what they described as inadequate medical care and poor living conditions for detainees, including children.
“This is a black eye for our nation. We are treating people inhumanely. It is vile,” said Rep. Adelita Grijalva during a news conference following the visit.
Lawmakers said detainees reported limited access to doctors and untreated medical conditions. Rep. Sylvia Garcia cited accounts from women who said their health concerns, including high blood pressure and gallstones, were dismissed.
Castro said the conditions reflect broader concerns that have been raised in recent months about the facility, which has faced scrutiny over medical care and treatment of children.
“When we look back at this era in American history, we will look back in shame … of the human rights abuses, most particularly against children,” Castro said.
The visit comes after the recent detention of a San Antonio-area family. Castro said an Alamo Heights mother and her two children — identified as 11-year-old Victor and 8-year-old Monserrat — were taken into custody last week and are now being held at the facility.
According to the family’s attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, the family entered the United States from Mexico in 2021 seeking asylum from Venezuela. She said they had been granted parole, obtained work permits and complied with all immigration requirements prior to their detention.
Castro said the children appeared traumatized during his visit.
“The kids, as you can imagine, were distraught. They were sobbing most of the time that we were with them,” he said, adding that the young girl expressed how much she missed her father.
The children’s father was not detained during the incident.
Attorneys for the family have filed a habeas corpus petition seeking their release. Castro said he hopes a judge will act quickly.
Lawmakers estimate that dozens of children remain at the facility, which houses several hundred people overall.
Democratic members of the delegation said they plan to continue pushing for the release of families and the shutdown of the Dilley facility, which Castro has previously described as a “trailer prison” and criticized over detainee conditions.
We did reach out to ICE about the Detainment of the Alamo Heights Family, below is their statement.
“On April 27, ICE arrested Maria Betania Uzategui-Castillo, an illegal alien from Venezuela and her two minor children who are also illegally in the country. They illegally entered the U.S. from Mexico on December 4, 2021, and were RELEASED into the country by the Biden administration. This administration is not going to ignore the rule of law.
Parents can take control of their departure with the CBP Home app and reserve the chance to come back the right legal way. The United States is offering illegal aliens $2,600 and a free flight to self-deport now. We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream. If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return.” – DHS Spokesperson