March 17, 2025
Two facilities in South Texas are being readied for undocumented parents and their children. One site began receiving them earlier this month.
For decades, detaining undocumented immigrant families has been a contentious enforcement tactic. Critics of “family detention” have said young children suffer in confinement. Proponents say that locking families up while they await likely deportation sends a stark message about the consequences of entering the United States illegally.
Now, after falling out of use under the Biden administration, family detention is being resurrected by President Trump, as his administration marches forward on its promise to crackdown on immigrants.
Families have begun to arrive in recent days at a detention facility in South Texas, and immigration lawyers are expecting more to be brought in the coming days. A second detention center, also in South Texas, is being readied for families.
“I have talked to hundreds of children in detention, and their stories still haunt me. They have shared that they rarely go outside and see the sun, that they’re cold, don’t have toys and are left in filthy clothing.” – Leecia Welch, Deputy Litigation Director