About 400 immigrant children were detained longer than the recommended limit, ICE admits
Court filings reveal that hundreds of immigrant children have been held in federal detention beyond the court-mandated 20-day limit, with some detained for more than five months — including at least five children held for 168 days — in conditions that legal advocates describe as deeply alarming. Government data acknowledged that roughly 400 children were held beyond the limit between August and September alone, citing transportation delays, medical needs, and legal processing as justifications that advocates say do not constitute lawful grounds for the extended detentions. Conditions at the Dilley, Texas facility and other detention sites have been dire, with reports of worm-filled and moldy food causing food poisoning, a child with an eye injury going two days without medical attention, a child's foot broken by a staff member who dropped equipment, and medical staff telling a family to return only if their sick child vomited eight times. The Trump administration is simultaneously attempting to end the 1997 court agreement that established the 20-day limit and set minimum standards for the treatment of detained children, and a federal judge is scheduled to hold a hearing to determine whether the court needs to intervene.