U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett on Wednesday paid a visit to Dilley Detention Center, where thousands of immigrant children and their parents are being detained, including 5-year-old Liam Ramos, whose ICE detainment in Minnesota drew national outrage last week.
After meeting with Liam and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, Crockett detailed just “how bad it is” inside Dilley, which had been closed by the Biden administration following years of complaints about poor conditions that left children in poor health.
“I did criminal defense work, y’all. I’m here to tell you that the treatment that these people are suffering under right now is worse than those that are accused and sometimes even convicted of crimes,” said Crockett, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas.
Crockett joined fellow Texas U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro for the Dilley visit, where they met with a sleeping Liam and his father and other immigrant families being detained at the center. At a news conference following the oversight visit, Crockett shared that Liam had grown “depressed” since being detained and sent across the country with his father.
“Imagine being a free-willed, loving kid, and all of a sudden, one day, you’re thrown on a plane, you’re sent 1,500 miles away from home, and you don’t understand what’s going on,” said Crockett. “All you know is that your friends are gone. You have one set of pants, one shirt…You don’t have your mom, who is currently four months pregnant, or sibling, and frankly, at this point in time, you’ve gotten depressed to the extent that you’ve stopped eating.”
The U.S. congresswoman said that, as bad as the conditions are for Liam, “The sad reality of what we found…was that Liam was not the only one.” Crockett explained, “We heard the same story over and over and over about how they were depressed, about how they weren’t eating, about how children were throwing up.”
The Texas lawmaker also shared that children detained at Dilley are not being educated, contrary to the claims made by officials running the facility.
“Their education is being thwarted. And then when pressed about it, they say, ‘Well, we’re working on it,'” said Crockett.
Despite the Trump administration’s repeated claims that ICE and Homeland Security are squarely focused on violent and dangerous undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., they have detained many immigrants who have no criminal record—some of whom have entered the country through proper visa or asylum channels.
Expressing frustration with the lack of outrage for what is happening to Liam and the thousands of other children being detained by the federal government, Crockett said, “I really don’t know what it’s going to take for there to be a wake up call in this country, but I am here to tell you that we are supposed to be better than this.”
“We won’t fund this nonsense,” said Crockett, who urged members of the U.S. Senate not to vote for a government funding bill that includes funding for Homeland Security and ICE.
“Stand up for people. Stand up and show them what humanity looks like. We know this administration doesn’t care about us, but frankly, when people literally are talking about the water that they are drinking is not safe, if you allow this to continue to happen, then you are complicit.”
