Reps. Castro and Crockett describe conditions at ICE Dilley detention center

From Texas Public Radio:

U.S. Reps. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio and Jasmine Crockett of Dallas said conditions they observed Wednesday inside the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley amount to “inhumanity,” as the two Democrats urged Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and other children being held after recent immigration detainments in Minnesota.

Speaking at an afternoon news conference on the steps of San Antonio City Hall, Castro said he and Crockett toured the facility earlier in the day and met for about 30 minutes with Liam and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias.

Castro described the boy as “lethargic,” saying Liam’s father told them the child “has been very depressed,” “hasn’t been eating well,” and has been “asking about his family … and saying that he “wants to go be back in school with his classmates.”

Crockett echoed that account, telling reporters that Liam has “gotten depressed … to the extent that he’s stopped eating,” and that his father has been washing the child’s only set of clothes daily and hanging them to dry overnight. She added that Liam’s mother is “currently four months pregnant” and not detained with them.

Crockett described in vivid detail what Liam had experienced.

“Imagine being a free-willed, loving kiddo. And all of a sudden, one day, you’re thrown on a plane. You’re sent 1,500 miles away from home. And you don’t understand what’s going on. All you know is that your friends are gone. You don’t have your mom,” she said.

“This is the story of Liam. The sad reality of what we found when we went to Dilley was that Liam was not the only one,” Crockett said.

Castro said Liam had a lot of questions. “I let him know that his school and his community, his family, and our country love him and were praying for him. I told them that we would do everything that we could to get him out of there,” he said.

The case has drawn national attention since the father and son were detained in Minnesota and transferred to Texas. A federal judge in San Antonio issued a temporary order this week barring ICE from removing, transferring of deporting them while litigation proceeds.

The Dilley center—run under federal contract by the private prison company CoreCivic—has long been a flashpoint in the debate over family detention. The facility is built to hold up to 2,400 people, and CoreCivic announced in 2025, after President Trump returned to the White House, it would resume operations there.

Crockett said the water at the ICE facility is not safe to drink. And she called on the public to stand up to fight against what is happening.

“If you allow this to continue to happen, then you are complicit. We have to do our part as the legislative branch. We have the power of the purse, not the president,” she said.

Castro told reporters the population is currently about 1,100 and argued “there are no criminals in Dilley,” saying families there are held in immigration proceedings, not for criminal convictions.

Both lawmakers said Liam’s condition reflects broader problems affecting children inside the facility. Castro said they encountered “many other kids just like Liam,” including “a two-month-old baby” and children “mentally broken because of the trauma that they’re experiencing.” Crockett said mothers repeatedly raised concerns about the treatment of their children who were “throwing up.”

Crockett also alleged the government is failing to provide schooling. She said staff suggested children were being educated, but that detained children told the visiting team, “no, we’re not in school.” Crockett said officials mentioned “packets” and a staff member with “an educational background,” which she argued was inadequate.

The Department of Homeland Security has denied allegations circulating in the Liam Ramos case that officers used the child as “bait” during the arrest and has described the detention as part of lawful enforcement actions—though advocates and Democratic lawmakers dispute that characterization. ICE did not immediately provide a detailed public response Wednesday to the lawmakers’ specific claims about education, water safety and medical conditions at the facility.

Castro said he “demanded from ICE that they release” Liam, and went further, calling to “disband ICE,” backing impeachment efforts against DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and urging Congress to block additional funding. Crockett urged Senate lawmakers to “stand up and show them what humanity looks like,” arguing Congress should use its spending power to force changes in detention policy.

Republicans have pushed back against claims that the Dilley ICE facility is substandard. Rep. Tony Gonzales of San Antonio, whose district includes Dilley, has called the facility “state of the art” that provides services for the children. He has accused Democrats of “grandstanding.”

If you found the reporting above valuable, please consider making a donation to support it here. Your gift helps pay for everything you find on texasstandard.org and TPR.org. Thanks for donating today.