Rep. Joaquin Castro says he’s told some detainees ‘are being kept on lockdown’ at facility where boy and his father are held
By Ed Lavandera, Norma Galeana, Holly Yan, CNN
Dilley, Texas (CNN) — Some detainees at a family detention center in Texas were “being locked in their room” Wednesday just as US Rep. Joaquin Castro was headed there to meet with a 5-year-old Minnesota boy and his father, the lawmaker said, citing attorneys.
In a video posted on Facebook, the congressman from Texas said he “heard from some of the attorneys that their clients are having trouble – that they’re being locked in their room. They’re being kept on lockdown” at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dilley.
CNN has reached out to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security for comment. CoreCivic, which manages the South Texas Family Residential Center, referred questions to DHS.
Castro was scheduled to meet Liam Conejo Ramos, 5, who was taken from his family’s suburban Minneapolis driveway last week after federal agents apprehended his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias.
Liam and his father were flown across the country to the ICE family detention center in Dilley.
The Department of Homeland Security said Liam’s father is an “illegal alien” from Ecuador and said agents took the boy with them after the father said he wanted Liam to stay with him.
But an attorney for Liam’s family said Conejo committed no crimes and followed “all the established protocols” for legally seeking asylum in the United States, including “showing up for their court hearings.”
‘It’s worse than people think’
Dilley has seen fresh protests this past week as word spread about Liam’s case and the reported conditions at the family detention center.
On Wednesday afternoon, hundreds of protesters descended on the entrance of the South Texas facility holding handmade signs that read, “Get out” and “ICE out.” Other protesters could be heard singing “This Little Light of Mine” in unison.
“It’s worse than people think,” said attorney Eric Lee, who tried to visit clients at Dilley on Saturday.
“The water is putrid. They have to mix baby formula with water that nobody wants to even smell. The food has bugs in it. The food has dirt in it.”
While waiting to see his clients, “Guards came in and suddenly said, ‘Get out. Get out.’ And I didn’t know what was happening,” Lee said.
“As I was walking back to my car to leave, I heard the sound of hundreds of children chanting. … They were chanting, ‘Let us out. Let us out.’”
Children are suffering from ‘a process that’s severely broken’
Texas state Rep. Josey Garcia and other lawmakers protested Wednesday “not only to stand in solidarity with our congressional delegation as they visit and tour this facility, but also to make it clear to Texans that we’re here to ensure the humane treatment of any detainees,” she told CNN affiliate KABB outside the detention center.
“And we’re here to also demand the immediate release of anyone who is illegally detained.”
Liam’s story has been particularly impactful, Garcia said, especially for parents.
“Children are being impacted and families are being impacted by a process that’s severely broken,” she said.
“When children are being separated from their families and taken to another state, that’s just not acceptable. What is acceptable is to fix a very flawed process. And so we’re hoping that this is going to be a wonderful start to that.”
Judge says Liam and his dad can’t be immediately deported
Liam’s father has filed a lawsuit against DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, US Attorney General Pam Bondi and other federal officials.
On Monday, a federal judge ruled “that any possible or anticipated removal or transfer of Petitioners Adrian Conejo Arias and L.C.R., a minor child, is IMMEDIATELY STAYED until further order from this Court,” a court document states.
In addition, federal officials “SHALL NOT TRANSFER Petitioners Adrian Conejo Arias and L.C.R., a minor child, outside of this judicial district during the pendency of this litigation and until further Order of this Court,” the ruling says.
When asked for a response the Conejo’s lawsuit and the judge’s ruling, DHS reiterated that “ICE did NOT target or arrest a child.”
DHS did not answer CNN’s questions about whether the agency has any documentation to refute the family’s attorney’s statements that Conejo was legally following asylum-seeking protocols and never committed any crimes.
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CNN’s Ed Lavandera and Norma Galeana reported from Dilley, Texas, and Holly Yan reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN’s Alisha Ebrahimji, Toni Odejimi and Caroll Alvarado contributed to this report.
