ICE Has Detained Over 6,300 Minors Since Trump Reopened Family Facility in 2025

More than 6,300 children under 18 have been detained by ICE during President Trump's second term, according to @CBSNews reporting. Nearly half were held at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas. Ninety-seven percent had no criminal records.

Joel Andre, a 17-year-old from the Democratic Republic of Congo, was among those detained. He, his sister Estafania, and their mother Carine were held at Dilley starting in November 2025 and released in March 2026. Their 19-year-old sister Olivia remained at the facility after the others were freed and was released after more than five months in detention.

The family fled the Democratic Republic of Congo after Carine was brutalized for speaking out against the ruling regime. They arrived in the United States in 2022 seeking political asylum. Elora Mukherjee, director of the Immigrants Rights Clinic at Columbia University and the family's lawyer, said the family was vetted, deemed to pose no threat, and released to await their hearing.

They complied with all check-ins and showed up for every appointment. A judge ordered the family deported in February 2025. , after which they were sent to Dilley. Joel, Estafania, and Carine were held at the facility for almost four months.

Dilley consists of a series of trailers. Detainees have reported lack of access to sufficient clean drinking water, finding live worms, bugs, and mold in their meals, and lights kept on 24/7. Those accounts have been repeated by dozens of detainees in sworn testimony, written letters, and interviews.

Dilley opened in 2014 under President Obama to hold migrant families caught crossing the southern border illegally. President Biden closed the facility a decade later. President Trump reopened it in 2025, and CoreCivic was awarded a contract worth $180 million annually to operate it.

The Flores Settlement, a federal order in place for nearly 30 years, requires the prompt release of children. One federal court has said that means no more than 20 days of detention. A federal court rejected a White House effort to terminate the Flores Settlement, and the administration is appealing that decision.

Congressman Joaquin Castro has made six trips to Dilley since President Trump returned to office. This past week, @CBSNews accompanied Castro to the facility. Families there have complained about a lack of health care and education for their children.

Castro was told there are three children under the age of three at Dilley. A 15-year-old boy told Castro he had not eaten in days because he is depressed.

U.S. House must surrender their phones upon entry. Castro said there are somewhere near 100 children inside the facility. The White House 2027 budget proposal calls for adding 30,000 more beds in family detention centers.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a written statement that Dilley meets federal detention standards and undergoes regular audits and inspections. CoreCivic said the conditions described do not reflect the operations, standards, or care provided at the facility.

"It's the only place I can think of in America where we imprison young children who have done absolutely nothing wrong," Castro said.