US returns hospitalized toddler to ICE detention, withholds prescribed medicine

An 18-month-old girl who required intensive care for life-threatening respiratory failure was returned to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Texas and subsequently denied medication prescribed by her doctors, a federal lawsuit has revealed. The case highlights alleged medical neglect within the U.S. immigration detention system, particularly involving young children.

Medical Crisis in Detention

According to the lawsuit filed last week and reported by NBC News, the toddler, identified as Amalia, was detained with her parents at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas after their arrest in El Paso in December. In mid-January, Amalia’s health deteriorated rapidly, and she was rushed to a children’s hospital in San Antonio, where she was diagnosed with pneumonia, COVID-19, RSV, and severe respiratory distress. Medical professionals stated she was "at the brink of dying."

Denial of Prescribed Care After Discharge

After ten days of intensive treatment, Amalia was discharged on January 28 with specific medical instructions, including daily breathing treatments via a nebulizer and medications such as albuterol. Despite warnings from doctors that she remained medically vulnerable, ICE officials returned her and her mother to the Dilley facility. There, staff allegedly confiscated her prescribed medications and equipment. Her parents were reportedly forced to wait for hours in outdoor lines to request the medicine, only to be denied access.

Legal Intervention and Release

Attorneys filed an emergency habeas corpus petition challenging the detention. Medical experts submitted affidavits warning that returning Amalia to detention without consistent access to her medication posed an extreme risk, including a “high risk for medical decompensation and death.” Following the legal action, Amalia and her family were released from custody on Friday. CoreCivic, the private contractor operating the Dilley facility, referred inquiries to the Department of Homeland Security, which has previously stated that detainees receive basic necessities and appropriate care.