June 14, 2026
They “came here to escape prison”—but instead, they spent 4 months locked inside ICE’s Dilley, Texas facility.
Alsu and Azat spent 118 days there with their toddler, Amir. Now they’re speaking out.
Jacob Soboroff of MS Now sat down with them to hear their story firsthand — and with Children’s Rights’ lead immigration attorney Leecia Welch, who has spent the last year meeting with families there. Alsu, Azat, and Amir are one of the first families Leecia met at Dilley — and the first she’s seen on the outside.
Children’s Rights represents immigrant children under the Flores Settlement Agreement — and what Leecia has witnessed is damning.
Watch to the end.
On any given day, 25 babies and toddlers under the age of 3 are in immigration custody, according to the Marshall Project’s latest analysis.
Families like Alsu and Azat’s are taking an enormous risk by speaking out. The least we can do is make sure their story is heard.
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Related Work
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- Case Name
- Flores v. Reno
- Status
- Active
The Flores case was filed in 1985 to address the serious mistreatment of immigrant children in federal custody. The case settled in 1997 and remains under the supervision of federal court judge Dolly Gee in the Central District of California.
Immigration Rights, Government Accountability, Institutionalization, Child Health
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