9-Year-Old Girl Held 113 Days in ICE Custody: 'ICE Used Me to Catch My Mom, and Now I Am in Jail'

A nine-year-old Colombian girl detained at the Dilley Immigration Processing Centre in Texas has exposed the grim reality of family detention in a handwritten plea to the outside world.

In a letter written after 113 days in custody, nearly six times the legal limit for minors, Maria Antonia said she had been travelling on a tourist visa to visit the United States when ICE agents stopped her flight and questioned her alone for two hours and later transferred to the Dilley Centre in late 2025.

The girl wrote that she fainted twice in custody, missed school, and begged to be sent home, and was used as 'bait' to detain her mother, writing: 'ICE used me to catch my mom, and now I am in jail.'

The claims have renewed attention on US immigration detention rules for minors.

Prolonged Civil Detention Beyond Legal Safeguards

The letter forms part of a larger collection of handwritten notes obtained by investigative news organisation ProPublica from children and families at Dilley. The letters were collected in mid-January 2026 and removed from the facility by a released detainee with parental consent.

ProPublica's reporting indicates that, in early February, more than 750 families were being held at the centre, nearly half of whom included children. Dilley is the only U.S. immigration facility that detains entire families together.

Under the Flores Settlement Agreement, a longstanding 1997 legal framework governing the treatment of minors in immigration custody, children are generally not to be held in detention for more than 20 days and must be released to suitable caregivers or sponsors unless special circumstances exist.

Yet, data compiled by ProPublica suggests that dozens of children at Dilley have been held well beyond that period, with many reporting confinement of several months.

Letters from detained children show that prolonged confinement has become a distressing reality, especially since the Trump administration resumed and expanded family detention in 2025.

According to government data cited by The Washington Post, ICE booked around 3,800 minors into family detention in 2025, including many who had lived in the US for years prior to detention.

Nine-year-old Susej F. from Venezuela, detained for 50 days, described missing her school and friends and feeling 'bad' at how long she had been held, noting that she had been living in Houston with her mother prior to detention.

Another child, Ender, aged 12, wrote that when detainees sought medical attention, they were told 'to drink more water' and that it 'seems like the water is what makes people sick here' — a repeated theme in multiple letters.

These firsthand accounts challenge official assertions by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that all detainees receive 'proper medical care, three meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, and toiletries,' and that children have access to teachers and educational materials. DHS said detainees could choose either to be deported together or for parents to designate alternative caregivers for their children.

Conditions, Health and Emotional Distress in Dilley

The letters reflect not only extended detention but also serious emotional distress among minors. A 14-year-old, Ariana V. V., wrote of pervasive sadness and fear, saying detention had stopped her schooling and amplified fear about conditions both in Dilley and back home.

Another child, Mia Valentina Paz Faria, aged 7, expressed boredom and longing to return to her grandparents and friends.

Public health concerns have also surfaced at Dilley. Recent reports from advocacy sources indicate outbreaks of measles and other infectious diseases inside the centre, prompting internal quarantines and suspension of legal visitation services while DHS authorities sought to control the spread.

Legal advocates and migrant rights groups have pointed out that many adults detained at Dilley had no criminal records and that families included asylum seekers and individuals with ongoing immigration cases. This has intensified calls for alternate approaches that avoid detention for vulnerable populations, especially young children.

Legal and Human Rights Context

The disconnect between prolonged detention practices and legal protections for minors has spurred legal challenges and public scrutiny. An AP News report from late 2025 noted that ICE acknowledged holding approximately 400 immigrant children beyond the court-mandated 20-day limit during part of the year, prompting lawyers to challenge the government's justifications related to transportation delays and legal processing.

Meanwhile, family detention policies are under legal and political debate, with critics asserting that extended detention inflicts lasting psychological harm on children and undermines the humanitarian basis of US immigration law.

Maria Antonia's letter, penned in pencil and addressed simply yet poignantly, concludes with a plea that encapsulates the experience of many young detainees: 'I am not happy...please get me out of here to Colombia.'