Resurgent US Movement Demands End to Family ICE Detention Amid 'Shocking Scale' Horror
In a powerful resurgence of activism, a faith-backed solidarity campaign is mobilizing across the United States to demand an end to family detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This movement has gained new momentum following the arrest and detention of five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, who was photographed wearing a Spider-Man backpack and a blue bunny hat during Minnesota's ICE surge. Ramos and his father, with pending asylum claims, were sent to the Dilley immigration processing center in south Texas, where hundreds of children are currently held.
Protests Amplify Voices from Within
On 28 January, hundreds of protesters gathered near the Dilley facility, responding to videos filmed by immigration lawyer Eric Lee showing detainees screaming and chanting "libertad," meaning "freedom." Rev Erin Walter, executive director of the Texas Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry, explained that community members were moved by the cries of children and families from inside, leading to solidarity events across the state. Over three days, more than 30 organizations mobilized to amplify these voices, with many calling for a complete end to family detention.
Since Donald Trump took office, the daily number of children in ICE detention has grown sixfold, with at least 3,800 individuals under the age of 18 booked into custody. Demonstrations like the one outside Dilley are part of this resurgent campaign, which aims to highlight the cruelty of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown and its impact on vulnerable children.
Conditions and Legal Violations
Dilley, originally opened during the Obama administration, was shuttered under Biden but reopened early last year. Instead of separating families, it holds children with their parents, yet it has faced severe criticism for inhumane conditions. Detainees, lawyers, and advocates report issues such as a recent measles outbreak, lack of clean drinking water, and inadequate medical care. Representative Joaquin Castro noted that Ramos was not eating well while detained.
Critics argue these conditions violate a 1997 legal settlement that provides protections to children in immigrant detention, including a 20-day limit on custody. However, a broad swath of organizers, including Trudy Taylor Smith of the Austin-based Children's Defense Fund, assert that these protections are insufficient. Smith emphasized that Congress could pass legislation to outlaw family detention at any time, stating, "The only reason that this is allowed to continue is because it's currently legal."
Call for Abolition and State-Level Efforts
The Children's Defense Fund is part of the National Coalition to End Family and Child Detention, a network connecting ground efforts in Texas with national advocacy. Smith described the situation as "state-sponsored child abuse," adding, "The horror that we are seeing right now is happening on such a shocking scale."
Activists are not only focused on Dilley but also on stopping the construction of new detention centers. Recently released documents outline ICE's plan to spend $38 billion on warehouses to convert into detention facilities. Smith commented, "I don't know how much more explicit the administration could be about their intention to cruelly house people in inhumane conditions."
Public opinion appears to be shifting, with a recent poll showing 65% of respondents across the political spectrum believing ICE has gone too far in its immigration crackdown, up from 54% last June. State-level efforts, such as a bill passed by the New Mexico senate banning ICE detention centers and Illinois's strict limits on private facilities, offer potential paths forward. Private owners have also declined transactions after pushback.
Intergenerational Trauma and Psychological Toll
Ramos was released from Dilley in early February, escorted home by Representative Castro after a federal judge, Fred Biery, granted their habeas petition. Biery questioned the government's justification for detaining a young child with a pending asylum claim, writing, "The case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children."
Despite his release, the psychological toll persists. Ramos's father, Adrian Conejo Arias, told Minnesota Public Radio that his son is not the same, waking up multiple times at night screaming. Rev Walter warned, "What we are putting these families through is going to affect the entire planet for generations to come. We've got to stop this trauma and cruelty and death dealing as soon as we possibly can."
Smith added, "Even though Liam may be home and safe, where he always should have been, there are hundreds of other Liams and there will be thousands of other Liams as long as this continues." At the end of his petition, Judge Biery included a photo of Ramos in his blue bunny hat, accompanied by Bible verses: Matthew 19:14, which speaks of letting children come, and John 11:35, "Jesus wept."
