Humanitarian Crisis: US Immigration Detention Centers Hold Children Beyond Legal Limit

United States - Ekhbary News Agency

Humanitarian Crisis: US Immigration Detention Centers Hold Children Beyond Legal Limit

An in-depth investigation based on US government data exposes a glaring violation of migrant children's rights, with hundreds of minors being held in detention centers in South Texas for periods exceeding the legal limit. The Flores Agreement, a 1997 judicial settlement that sets parameters for the treatment of underage immigrants, is being systematically disregarded, raising serious questions about American immigration policy and the well-being of vulnerable populations.

According to data analyzed by Folha, provided by the US Department of Homeland Security to the Deportation Data Project at the University of California, at least 675 migrant children were held for more than 20 days at the South Texas Family Residential Center, located in Dilley, Texas, between January and October 2025. This number represents a significant portion of the 1,859 minors who spent most of their detention in the facility during the analyzed period. Notably, among the affected children, 11 are Brazilian, highlighting the international dimension of this humanitarian crisis.

The Flores Agreement guideline is clear: migrant children should not be held in detention centers for more than 20 days. However, records indicate that more than a third of the minors at the Dilley center remained beyond this deadline. The situation could be even more severe, with 240 detention records lacking an exit date, which could raise the total number of illegally detained children to 915, approaching half of all detentions. In extreme cases, Folha confirmed that at least four children have been detained for an astonishing eight months, a period bordering on institutional cruelty.

Among the most shocking cases is that of a Brazilian boy born in 2023, who spent 44 days in detention in Texas before being deported. Ten other Brazilian minors were held in Dilley for periods ranging from 21 to 34 days. The gravity of the situation was highlighted in January when a five-year-old Ecuadorian boy, Liam Conejo Ramos, was detained by federal immigration agents upon returning from preschool in Minnesota. His release in February only occurred after strong public outcry and protests, underscoring the need for public pressure to ensure justice.

The family of Egyptian Hayam El Gamal exemplifies the complexity and injustice of the system. Detained for eight months, the family was arrested last June after Hayam's husband, Mohamed Soliman, was accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at protesters in Colorado. Despite the family having no knowledge of or involvement in the crime and cooperating fully with authorities, including lengthy interviews with the FBI, they remain detained. They arrived in the US in 2022 with an asylum request that granted them permission to stay, but were deemed in irregular migratory status after their visa expired, a common occurrence in pending asylum cases.

The family's lawyer, Eric Lee, describes the conditions at the South Texas Family Residential Center as "comparable – or even worse – to those in prisons designated for convicted criminals." He denounces abuses by guards, including racial slurs, systematic denial of religious accommodations, and inadequate food, with water that frequently makes detainees sick, including infants and nursing mothers. The absence of an organized school in the center exacerbates the suffering, with children spending their days sleeping, crying, or dealing with nightmares, developing severe depression. "Their lives have been effectively ruined and they will never recover from what they are going through," Lee stated, highlighting the lasting trauma.

Lee accuses the Donald Trump administration of implementing a deliberate policy to prolong families' stays in detention centers, aiming to inflict suffering. "It's not negligence. It's a thought-out policy in Washington to force children and parents to suffer," he declared. The children's despair is visible in their drawings, which were shared by the lawyer: childish strokes show minors behind bars, accompanied by phrases like "I am six years old" and "My home." Hayam's eldest daughter, who turned 18 in detention, writes letters to the press and authorities, questioning why her family is being held in the prison system.

Although the lawyer believes the El Gamal family has "strong chances" of obtaining asylum, there are fears that the government will prolong their detention for years. The defense has already secured a judicial decision preventing the automatic application of a provision that authorizes the continued detention of families even after favorable rulings. Furthermore, the family has raised over $100,000 in donations to try to obtain provisional release. "If they are released, I am confident they will win the case," Lee said, concluding that the situation "shows an administration willing to punish an entire family, even knowing that, in the end, they will likely be victorious." The persistence of these prolonged detentions and inhumane conditions in US immigrant centers continues to be a point of international criticism and a grim reminder of the challenges faced by those seeking refuge and a better life.

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