Monday, February 09, 2026

The Children of Dilley

A ProPublica reporter interviewed multiple children and parents being held at the immigrant detention center in Dilley, Texas. Despite Trump's promise to only go after violent criminals, the majority of adults spoken to had no criminal record and many had shown up to a scheduled immigration hearing when they and their children were taken by the government. "I have friends, school, and family here in the United States," a 13-year-old told ProPublica. "To this day, I don't know what we did wrong to be detained." He ended with a plea, "I feel like I'll never get out of here. I just ask that you don't forget about us."

Posted by retort at 07:41 AM | 56 COMMENTS | permalink

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NEW: ProPublica went inside the detention center for immigrant families in Dilley, Texas.

Children held there told us about the anguish of being ripped from their lives in the United States and the fear of what comes next.[image or embed]

-- ProPublica (@propublica.org) Feb 9, 2026 at 7:00 AM

5/ "I have already spent more than 60 days waking up eating the same repetitive meals ... going to the doctor and that the only thing they tell you is to drink more water and the worst thing is that it seems like the water is what makes people sick here ... "

From 12-year-old Ender, detained 60+ days[image or embed]

-- ProPublica (@propublica.org) Feb 9, 2026 at 7:34 AM

Comments

Kevlar blankets, lukewarm juice boxes and a lesson that America isn't for poor immigrant losers.

#1 | Posted by lee_the_agent at 2026-02-09 08:06 AM

The cruelty is the point.

#2 | Posted by TFDNihilist at 2026-02-09 08:08 AM

Posting our total disgust about the Trump administration here on this site is preaching to the choir. The real haters are over thare on "X"! The quality of hater we get here seems civilized.

#3 | Posted by danni at 2026-02-09 08:16 AM

The cruelty is unfathomable.

Support of this is unconscionable.

#4 | Posted by Angrydad at 2026-02-09 08:31 AM

"Kevlar blankets, lukewarm juice boxes and a lesson that America isn't for poor immigrant losers."

Like the 9-year-old who came from Columbia for a 10-day vacay at Disney World?

#5 | Posted by madbomber at 2026-02-09 08:35 AM

Being a great nation takes work. You don't get to do crap like this and say you're exceptional.

#6 | Posted by Zed at 2026-02-09 08:58 AM

"Being a great nation takes work. You don't get to do crap like this and say you're exceptional."

Crap? What crap?

Do you think the residents of Dilley snuck into the US because it wasn't exceptional?

There are 194 other countries on earth they could have gone to.

#7 | Posted by madbomber at 2026-02-09 09:15 AM

Donald Trump is making the United States into a slum. I guess you can get behind that or oppose it.

#8 | Posted by Zed at 2026-02-09 09:23 AM

Did I hurt your feelings? Do you think you're exceptional? You've been made several factors below that in the last year. What will you do about it?

#9 | Posted by Zed at 2026-02-09 09:25 AM

"Donald Trump is making the United States into a slum. I guess you can get behind that or oppose it."

He's definitely making USans poorer. My CoL has gone up by about 15% since this time last year.

But that has nothing to do with illegal immigration or illegal immigrants.

#10 | Posted by madbomber at 2026-02-09 09:34 AM

"Did I hurt your feelings? Do you think you're exceptional? You've been made several factors below that in the last year. What will you do about it?"

Talk to my employer about getting a cost-of-living adjustment.

#11 | Posted by madbomber at 2026-02-09 09:36 AM

CoL adjustment?

Trump/MAGA think you should have planned too life better

#12 | Posted by Zed at 2026-02-09 09:39 AM

As to how the current immigration pogrom makes everyone's life harsher, more venal, and cheesier ... . If you don't get that by now you're pretty useless.

#13 | Posted by Zed at 2026-02-09 09:44 AM

"As to how the current immigration pogrom makes everyone's life harsher, more venal, and cheesier ... . If you don't get that by now you're pretty useless."

Yeah...you'll need to walk me through that. I don't see how the US is any different than any other country. I don't know of any that are open to illegal immigration.

That said, detaining a 9-year-old resident of Columbia who was in the US on vacation because mom was an illegal seems pretty dumb. The kid was not poor. Why not just let her stay with her stepdad under the terms of the Visa? Worst case, send her home.

#14 | Posted by madbomber at 2026-02-09 09:53 AM

But this girl was the exception. If you entered the country illegally, you shouldn't have any expectation that you can remain. Just like any other country.

#15 | Posted by madbomber at 2026-02-09 09:53 AM

Do you think you're exceptional?

If we arent exceptional, why are they here?

If Ecuador is exceptional too, why arent they going home? Sorry you are in my country illegally, but maybe it's time for you to go home.

#16 | Posted by boaz at 2026-02-09 10:06 AM

This is what I voted for.
--Boaz

#17 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-02-09 10:07 AM

"If you entered the country illegally"

So you are in favor of sending children to camps.

#18 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-02-09 10:08 AM

We keep pretending this is just another rough chapter in American politics, but deep down everyone knows that's a lie. This isn't disagreement anymore. This is disillusion. This is two completely different nations trapped inside the same borders, pretending we share values when we don't.
The Declaration of Independence admitted they could no longer coexist under a system that no longer represented them. That same feeling is back, whether people want to admit it or not.We don't argue over tax rates or road funding anymore.
We argue over reality itself. Over biology. Over speech. Over history. Over whether borders matter. Over whether personal responsibility even exists.
One side believes the country should be preserved, protected, and handed down stronger to the next generation.
The other believes it should be dismantled.
You cannot reconcile those worldviews. You can only delay the inevitable by pretending compromise still exists inside them.

#19 | Posted by boaz at 2026-02-09 10:09 AM

So you are in favor of sending children to camps.

#18 | Posted by snoofy

No, I'm in favor of sending them back to their home countries with their parents.

#20 | Posted by boaz at 2026-02-09 10:10 AM

This is what I voted for.
--Boaz

#17 | Posted by snoofy

Yep, sure is.

#21 | Posted by boaz at 2026-02-09 10:11 AM

You can't slum your way into greatness. You can't cheat your way into exceptionality. You can't lie your way into superiority.

I've come to the conclusion that that Americans understand that and the rest of you have your heads in shit piles and flatter yourselves you're special.

#22 | Posted by Zed at 2026-02-09 10:13 AM

"One side believes the country should be preserved, protected, and handed down stronger to the next generation.
The other believes it should be dismantled."

You're on the dismantle side, Boaz.

What do you think DOGE did?

They dismantled entire sections of the Federal Government.

Trump remoning us from WHO, shuttering USAID, threatening to invade Greenland.

It's a dismantling of the Post-War Hegemony that has served American interests for eighty years

And you were happy to vote for dismantling it.

Do you deny this?

#23 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-02-09 10:13 AM

Building mass detentions camps is another dismantling of American values.

#24 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-02-09 10:14 AM

ICE raiding homes without a warrant signed by a judge is a dismantling of American values.

And you're happy about that one too.

#25 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-02-09 10:16 AM

Do you think you're exceptional?
If we arent exceptional, why are they here?
If Ecuador is exceptional too, why arent they going home? Sorry you are in my country illegally, but maybe it's time for you to go home.
#16 | Posted by boaz

I wonder if we can test your commitment to the founding principles of our country, something you allude to in your #19 post

Is each of the people allegedly here illegally entitled to an impartial hearing?

Are you aware that many, if not most, of the people being rounded up by ICE are actually here legally going through the process to gain legal status?

Are you aware that there IS a process for a person who allegedly enters illegally to gain legal status?

Are you aware that many, if not most, of the undocumented people who are described as being here illegally, are actually asylum seekers?

Do you believe that there should be a formal, impartial process to determine who is here legally including identifying those people whose asylum claims are legitimate?

I am curious as to your commitment to one of the basic things that makes America exceptional-due process before the law

#26 | Posted by tepidmouse at 2026-02-09 10:18 AM

In response to a large influx of unaccompanied children and families from Central America in 2014, the Obama administration expanded the use of large detention centers and constructed temporary holding facilities using chain-link fencing, which have been widely referred to as "cages". Photos from these facilities taken in 2014 circulated widely during the Trump administration and were often misrepresented online as showing the effects of later policies.

#27 | Posted by Maverick at 2026-02-09 10:20 AM

Military helping Trump build massive network of 'concentration camps'
www.msn.com

In the wake of immigration agents' killings of three US citizens within a matter of weeks, the Department of Homeland Security is quietly moving forward with a plan to expand its capacity for mass detention by using a military contract to create what Pablo Manrquez, the author of the immigration news site Migrant Insider calls "a nationwide ghost network' of concentration camps."

On Sunday, Manrquez reported that "a massive Navy contract vehicle, once valued at $10 billion, has ballooned to a staggering $55 billion ceiling to expedite President Donald Trump's mass deportation' agenda."

#28 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-02-09 10:23 AM

"We argue over reality itself."

Interesting comment.

I assume you think conservatives are the ones dealing with "reality"

I have a few questions for you

Who won the 2020 presidential election?

Were Haitians eating cats and dogs in Ohio?

Do Republicans have a health care plan?

Do you believe women are getting post birth abortions?

Do you believe a staffer posted on Trump's social media account a picture of the Obamas as apes?

#29 | Posted by tepidmouse at 2026-02-09 10:25 AM

Are you aware that many, if not most, of the people being rounded up by ICE are actually here legally going through the process to gain legal status?

Are you aware that many, if not most, of the undocumented people who are described as being here illegally, are actually asylum seekers?

Semantics with words. They are all illegal first. A breaking of our laws. We have a way to enter our nation BEFORE they break our laws.

Do you believe that there should be a formal, impartial process to determine who is here legally including identifying those people whose asylum claims are legitimate?

I am curious as to your commitment to one of the basic things that makes America exceptional-due process before the law

The due process is the process laid out lawfully that doesnt include coming as a vacationer and just staying, then claiming asylum.

#30 | Posted by boaz at 2026-02-09 10:26 AM

The due process is the process laid out lawfully that doesnt include coming as a vacationer and just staying, then claiming asylum.

#31 | Posted by boaz at 2026-02-09 10:27 AM

You don't get to build a great triumphal arch in Washington when you're nothing more than a dirty, evil clown.

#32 | Posted by Zed at 2026-02-09 10:27 AM

"Are you aware that many, if not most, of the people being rounded up by ICE are actually here legally going through the process to gain legal status?"

^
I doubt you will get an answer.

They know we are mostly detaining people who are not violent criminals but simply came here to work -- or were bought here by their parents who came here to work.

They want all brown people gone, but they also know not to say that out loud.

They look at immigrants the same way Nazis looked at Jews and Epileptics and Gays and Gypsies. Garbage human beings who do not belong here and must be rounded up and sent to camps, to protect the purity of the nation's bloodline.

That's simply what they believe.

#33 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-02-09 10:27 AM

Are you aware that many, if not most, of the people being rounded up by ICE are actually here legally going through the process to gain legal status?

Anyone going through the legal status, are they still citizens of their prior countries? Why is it a requirement that they stay here in the U.S. when asking to become a citizen?

#34 | Posted by boaz at 2026-02-09 10:30 AM

"They are all illegal first."

See, that's you, destroying American values.

America used to welcome refugees.

I personally know a refugee from Vietnam who was saved by Marines in Vietnam when be was a child, who later went on to become a United States Marine.

You would rather that kid and his family simply die at the hands of the enemy.

#35 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-02-09 10:30 AM

"Anyone going through the legal status, are they still citizens of their prior countries? Why is it a requirement that they stay here in the U.S. when asking to become a citizen?"

So you have no idea how the naturalization process works.

My mother lived in this country for decades before becoming a United States citizen.

Was that wrong? Was it bad that she was working and raising her American children in America?

#36 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-02-09 10:32 AM

My mother lived in this country for decades before becoming a United States citizen.

Was that wrong? Was it bad that she was working and raising her American children in America?

Why did she wait decades?

And times are no longer like what she was in back then. Now, there's more scrutiny on immigrants than in the past.

Immigrants just cannot do it the way your mother did. Those times are over.

#37 | Posted by boaz at 2026-02-09 10:40 AM

America used to welcome refugees.

Funny how everything else can "change" with liberals except this.

We can still welcome immigrants, just not as many as before. we cannot house the entire world that doesnt like their home country.

#38 | Posted by boaz at 2026-02-09 10:42 AM

"Why did she wait decades?"

You are kinda asking the question backwards.

Why should she want to be a United States citizen at all?

I'll tell you why she became a citizen. It wasn't an ideology. It was practical. It helped advance her career because there are certain jobs for which being an citizen is a de facto requirement. She worked in banks, and later for the Federal government.

So, again: Was it wrong for her to work in America and raise a family of American children, for over a decade, without being or even applying for American citizenship?

#39 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-02-09 10:45 AM

"We can still welcome immigrants, just not as many as before."

Why can't we?
What changed?
You can't say.
You don't even know.

#40 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-02-09 10:46 AM

Immigrants just cannot do it the way your mother did. Those times are over.
#37 | Posted by boaz

Why? What harm is it when say a person from Switzerland simply lives in America, has a job in America, pays American taxes?

What's the downside for America?

#41 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-02-09 10:47 AM

You are kinda asking the question backwards.

No I'm not. I ask the question I wanted the answer to.

But then again, it's none of my business why she waited.

I understand she wanted to work for those jobs that were not available in her home country. It must not have been too much pressure to become an American, because she did wait that long.

But then again, that time is passed.

#42 | Posted by boaz at 2026-02-09 10:48 AM

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

#43 | Posted by El_Buscador at 2026-02-09 10:48 AM

Why can't we?
What changed?
You can't say.
You don't even know.

Yes I can. The quality of the immigrant changed. We used to get immigrants from first world nations, now the majority are coming from 3rd world nations.

I dont care what word salad you throw at me, it's true. And you know it is.

#44 | Posted by boaz at 2026-02-09 10:50 AM

Anyone going through the legal status, are they still citizens of their prior countries? Why is it a requirement that they stay here in the U.S. when asking to become a citizen?

#34 | Posted by boaz

I find it interesting that you are committed to attacking undocumented people but don't understand the basic principle of asylum or temporary protected status.

These people are fleeing oppression and violence. That is why they are permitted to stay in America until their claim is heard.

Or they are here because their government collapsed and they were subject to violence (i.e. Haitians)

These people are here legally; they are going through a process and MANY of them are being swept up and deported or threatened with confinement in detention camps until their cases can be heard. That is a goal and policy of this administration, that EVERYONE who is here undocumented, seeking asylum or TPS are kept in detention camps (with all of the attendant suffering) until their cases are heard. Detained contrary to court orders btw.

#45 | Posted by tepidmouse at 2026-02-09 10:55 AM

#44

Because of the Immigration Act of 1965. Republicans have done nothing to change it, because lawsuits are a lawyer's lifeblood. That's what this is all about. Feeding their fraternal brotherhood.

#46 | Posted by lee_the_agent at 2026-02-09 10:58 AM

The due process is the process laid out lawfully that doesnt include coming as a vacationer and just staying, then claiming asylum.

#31 | Posted by boaz

You're confusing an alleged crime or action with how a government interacts with the individual.

That is a foundational principle of western democracy for like 800 years.

How does one ESTABLISH that a person came as a vacationer and just staying? How do you ESTABLISH the validity of their asylum claim?

I honestly don't think you understand how law works (or is supposed to work)

#47 | Posted by tepidmouse at 2026-02-09 10:58 AM

What the fuck are you talking about #47?

You come on an vacation visa and you never leave, what the fuck is there to establish?

#48 | Posted by boaz at 2026-02-09 11:03 AM

And times are no longer like what she was in back then. Now, there's more scrutiny on immigrants than in the past.
Immigrants just cannot do it the way your mother did. Those times are over.

#37 | Posted by boaz

Can you recognize the positive that vastly outweighs the negative of immigrants?

Immigrants are hard working. Immigrants work for lower wages, commit fewer crimes, put more $ into the system then they get out, are a critical component of the labor force when a native population isn't expanding? Can you not comprehend the incredible benefits of a diverse society? A rich tapestry of experiences, and perspectives, and innovation and art and commerce? Brilliant immigrants fill our schools of higher learning bringing innovation that fuels business. Children of immigrants start new businesses. Yes, there are difficulties in the transition due to language and some cultural barriers but those pale beside the benefits they bring.

#49 | Posted by tepidmouse at 2026-02-09 11:04 AM

You come on an vacation visa and you never leave, what the fuck is there to establish?
#48 | Posted by boaz

Ummm that you are who the state says you are, for one.

That you actually are the person that overstayed their visa.

You know, important legal things.

YOU also mentioned seeking asylum, where eligibility needs to be established.

#50 | Posted by tepidmouse at 2026-02-09 11:06 AM

You are aware of the scores of people rounded up and flown to that El Salvadoran prison were not who and what the government said they were? that sort of "establishing" The kind of action that a government based on due process prioritizes

#51 | Posted by tepidmouse at 2026-02-09 11:08 AM

"The quality of the immigrant changed."

Are you saying that people from central and south America and Africa and the far east are inherently lower quality?

#52 | Posted by tepidmouse at 2026-02-09 11:11 AM

Boaz,

A lot of people died for the establishment of the US.

And Dems just spit in their face treating this great nation as if the world would be better off without it.

These children are not living on the streets or digging through garbage.

Thank God Trump has clamped down on border crossings so that this immigration problem isn't growing worse like Dems want to see happen.

#53 | Posted by BillJohnson at 2026-02-09 11:16 AM

"I honestly don't think you understand how law works (or is supposed to work"

Members of fascist organizations and/or cults tend to do that when they join. Fascist/cult leaders like Trump aim to detach their followers from reality.

You'll also notice that fascist movements and/or cults tend to infect those who aren't really looking for a God, but those who are most certainly looking for a Devil; a devil in which they can blame for all of their perceived misfortunes but also a devil that they can use as a model for how to respond to these apparent injuries. That is why you find cult leaders like Trump his cult followers frequently mimicking the imagined evils they apply to and so vehemently criticize in their adversaries.

#54 | Posted by ExpectingReign at 2026-02-09 11:18 AM

"A lot of people died for the establishment of the US.
And Dems just spit in their face treating this great nation as if the world would be better off without it."

Give me some examples of what you're talking about here.
Who are these people who died for the establishment of our nation. Nathan Hale?

#55 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-02-09 11:21 AM

"These children are not living on the streets or digging through garbage."

They're imprisoned.
That's supposed to be better?

#56 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-02-09 11:24 AM

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