SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Democratic members of Congress called for the closure of the Dilley Immigration Processing Center at a press conference held at the facility on Tuesday. The lawmakers spoke to reporters as a small group of protesters gathered outside, demanding the release of detainees being held at the facility designed to hold families as they await deportation.
The delegation of Democrats, led by Representative Joaquin Castro (D-TX), was organized to protest the detention of two children and their stepmother by ICE in San Antonio earlier in the week. In a report from KSAT news, the Venezuelan family of three was detained by ICE in the affluent Alamo Heights area, and according to DHS, they were in the United States illegally. Maria Betania Uzategui-Castillo and two stepchildren, who attend Cambridge Elementary in Alamo Heights, were transported to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center after their arrest, where they remain as they await removal proceedings.
A DHS spokesperson commented on the arrest, saying, “They illegally entered the U.S. from Mexico on December 4, 2021. This administration is not going to ignore the rule of law.”
Representative Sylvia Garcia (D-TX) likened the facility, which opened in 2014 during the Obama administration, to a “Baby Jail.” In a social media post on X, formerly Twitter, Garcia wrote, “We need to shut Dilley down NOW. This is a baby jail where women and children are suffering and being denied medical care and respect. We must end family detention.”
The facility, run by Core Civic, was closed by Biden administration officials but was opened recently by the Trump administration. On its website, CoreCivic provides a video tour of the facility that describes the amenities available to detainees awaiting removal hearings. The facility includes a cafeteria that serves 7,000 meals per day, a 24-hour walk-in medical clinic, a gymnasium for children, multiple playgrounds, 5 courtrooms, game rooms for children, an age-appropriate library with legal reference materials for detainees, and 32 fully stocked classrooms for school-aged detainees.
Representative Christian D. Menefee (D-TX) went so far as to allege ICE staff members at the facility lied to him during the Tuesday tour, saying in a social media post on X, “Look, we met with the staff at ICE first, and every single thing that they told us we later found out when we talked to the detainees was a lie.
Menefee alleges the detainees told him their movements in the facility were restricted and that full access to food and medical facilities, which ICE told the delegation was available to detainees, was not true. Menefee went on to allege the detainees held at the facilities were “kidnapped” by ICE, saying, “Look, they’re kidnapping folks in the middle of the night, taking them to this detention facility and not a single person in here has been convicted of a crime from what we can tell.”
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.