Immigration Lawyer Says A Child Died Soon After Leaving ICE Detention Center

There’s an unconfirmed report today that a child has passed away after being released from a detention center in South Texas. Immigration lawyer Mana Yegani tweeted last night an early account of what possibly transpired after the release of a young child.

According to Yegani, she first tweeted: “There are reports that a child died in ICE custody in Dilley, Texas. Getting more information as the story develops. It’s unclear where the parent(s) of the child is. Some reports indicate that they maybe in New Jersey while child was in Texas.” She then updated by tweeting: “The child died following her stay at an ICE Detention Center, as a result of possible negligent care and a respiratory illness she contracted from one of the other children. The events took place in Dilley Family Detention Center in south Texas.”

While this claim has yet to be confirmed, we have reached out to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for comment and/or confirmation about this report.

The news of a child dying under ICE care, while completely horrible, isn’t a shock considering it’s still very unclear what actually happens inside these facilities. The only reason the public knows about the abuse the kids have suffered is because the ones that have been released have spoken out about the horrifying things that have gone inside.

Some children have reported that kids were being forced to take drugs against their will. Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee ruled that the Federal Office of Refugee Resettlement had to take children out of the of the Shiloh Treatment Center in Texas. Children inside that facility claimed that their peers were being injected with psychotropic drugs.

Judge Gee wrote in her ruling that “Shiloh RTC’s staff engages in practices that are not necessary for the protection of minors.”

As we previously reported, several reunion videos of children returning to their parents often look bewildered and not coherent. These drugs could be a reason why.

A New York Times story that was published yesterday, a mother speaks about the condition of her son after being separated from him for 50 days. “He’s been like that since I got him back,” Ana Carolina Fernandes said about her 5-year-old son. “He doesn’t want to talk to anyone.”

Volunteers and legal providers say that they’ve spoken to several mothers and fathers who report their child to be different after they’ve been reunited.

“I have mothers complaining that their child was more outgoing and talkative, and now they are quiet and unresponsive. Some take a while to process information or a situation, and Mom has to say, ‘Hey, hey wake up,'” Luana Biagini, a paralegal who has been working with reunited Brazilian families, said to The New York Times.

We will update this story new developments.