A peer-reviewed research published in International Migration Review provides the most comprehensive data on unaccompanied minors in U.S. immigration court in nearly a decade. The findings are deeply troubling. 🧵

So deeply grateful for your relentless advocacy for these families, for amplifying their stories and humanity, and for calling to an end to the cruel and dangerous practice of family detention. From a pediatrician who knows the harms of detention on children, thank you @joaquincastrotx.bsky.social.

Joaquin Castro@joaquincastrotx.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Thank you to everyone who has spoken up for the thousands of children and families imprisoned at Dilley. ICE admits that no one at Dilley has committed a crime, especially not the children. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/13/u...

“There’s another young boy I met last time whose name is Liam Nias,” @joaquincastrotx.bsky.social said. “He’s 7, from Honduras, I believe. He reminded me of Liam Ramos, except no one knows this other boy — he’s just unknown and sitting there in this prison.” www.nytimes.com/2026/03/13/u...

Joaquin Castro Is on a Quest to Get Detained Immigrants Released

nytimes.com

Thank you @joaquincastrotx.bsky.social for your tireless efforts to protect families harmed by family detention. Juan needs medical care, safe housing, access to nutrition and a nurturing environment. Detention and deportation without due process is cruel and wrong.

Joaquin Castro@joaquincastrotx.bsky.social · 6mo ago

After a discussion with their attorney, I have confirmed that Juan, his 16-month-old sister, his mom, and his dad have been deported.

We must continue to speak out loudly until all children are released from the dangerous and cruel practice of family detention. As pediatricians, we call for immediate release of these children- we know all too well the immediate and longterm harms of detention: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

ProPublica@propublica.org · 6mo ago

Some children in Dilley were so distraught they cut themselves or talked about suicide, parents told ProPublica. They said kids lost their appetites after finding worms and mold on their food, had trouble sleeping, and were constantly sick.

“All children held in immigration detention should be immediately released, and these facilities should be permanently shuttered.” As pediatricians, we are calling for immediate action to protect children from detention and aggressive immigration enforcement actions. Our piece here:

We're pediatricians. We see how ICE is harming children. | Opinion

Liam Ramos is one of more than 1,700 children to have been put in family detention centers since 2025. We call for these centers to close.

usatoday.com

“While Liam has returned home, this traumatic detention experience will forever remain a part of his memory. For the children who remain detained, ongoing, compounding trauma worsens by the day.” Aggressive immigration enforcement is harming children. We must keep speaking up. See our piece below:

We're pediatricians. We see how ICE is harming children. | Opinion

Liam Ramos is one of more than 1,700 children to have been put in family detention centers since 2025. We call for these centers to close.

usatoday.com

“While Liam has returned home, this traumatic detention experience will forever remain a part of his memory. For the children who remain detained, ongoing, compounding trauma worsens by the day.” Aggressive immigration enforcement is harming children. We must keep speaking up. See our piece below:

We're pediatricians. We see how ICE is harming children. | Opinion

Liam Ramos is one of more than 1,700 children to have been put in family detention centers since 2025. We call for these centers to close.

usatoday.com

As pediatricians, we’re speaking out on the harms of aggressive immigration enforcement and detention on children. Our kids deserve safety and protection. See our piece in USA Today:

We're pediatricians. We see how ICE is harming children. | Opinion

Liam Ramos is one of more than 1,700 children to have been put in family detention centers since 2025. We call for these centers to close.

usatoday.com

Thank you for your continued advocacy for these children, @joaquincastrotx.bsky.social. As pediatricians, we also continue to call out the immediate and longterm harms of detention on kids. Children and families need to be released and these facilities need to be shut down. Our piece out today:

We're pediatricians. We see how ICE is harming children. | Opinion

Liam Ramos is one of more than 1,700 children to have been put in family detention centers since 2025. We call for these centers to close.

usatoday.com

Joaquin Castro@joaquincastrotx.bsky.social · 6mo ago

I've heard directly from hundreds of children at Dilley. One young girl who shared her story with me grew up in the United States and her stepfather is a U.S. citizen. She said that the guards are mean to her, she is afraid, and that she is worried she will die in detention.

As pediatricians, we’re speaking out on the harms of aggressive immigration enforcement and detention on children. Our kids deserve safety and protection. See our piece in USA Today:

We're pediatricians. We see how ICE is harming children. | Opinion

Liam Ramos is one of more than 1,700 children to have been put in family detention centers since 2025. We call for these centers to close.

usatoday.com

While Liam has thankfully left detention, the trauma from his time there will stay with him for a lifetime. Detention is incredibly traumatic and dangerous for children. That it has been inflicted on him as a result of cruel policies is even harder to contend with. All children deserve safety.

MPR News@mprnews.org · 6mo ago

Super Bowl viewers Sunday speculated that 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos appeared in the halftime show. In fact, he has been in hiding with his family. “He can’t sleep well at night. He wakes up three or four times a night screaming, ‘Daddy, Daddy,’” Liam's father Adrian Conejo Arias, said.

The kids are not ok. Read their stories. Look at their drawings. Hear it in their own words. Detention is no place for a child. It is cruel and dangerous. These children and their families deserve safety, dignity and compassion. They should be released immediately.

ProPublica@propublica.org · 6mo ago

1/ ProPublica collected handwritten letters in mid-January from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the same facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken. Hundreds of kids are still detained. We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵

austinkocher.substack.com/p/family-det...

I was just denied entry to the Dilley detention facility while my constituent, seven-year-old Diana, remains inside. What kind of sick, horrific conditions are children being forced to endure in there? I will be back tomorrow. Accountability can’t wait.

Pediatricians agree. No amount of time in detention is safe for a child. We need to ensure that these children are released, safe, have access to medical and mental health care, and that no more children have to endure this cruel and dangerous practice.

Governor Tim Walz@governorwalz.mn.gov · 6mo ago

Minnesota needs to know the number of children in federal detention, who they are, and where they’re being held.

Anyone with a heart and soul should agree that children and babies do not belong behind bars. Thousands of kids will carry a lifetime of trauma and PTSD, done in our name, funded by our tax dollars.

The Dilley detention center should be shut down immediately. Because of the close-quarter conditions at Dilley, lack of prompt medical response and capacity, and lack of expertise with diseases such as measles, Dilley is not equipped to combat any spread.

Pediatricians have long called out the harms of detention on children. We must continue to be loud and advocate for the end of these cruel practices. No child should ever be detained. Their health and well-being is gravely affected. Children deserve protection and compassion.

Christopher Webb@cwebbonline.com · 6mo ago

Liam made people look. Now don’t look away. We still have children in ICE custody eating bad food, drinking questionable water, living in filthy conditions, and carrying a lifetime of trauma they shouldn’t have to survive. #FreeTheChildren

“Dear ICE agents - I hope you’re respectful to everyone and show kindness… we should treat all people the same, even if we don’t know them.” If this doesn’t shatter your heart you don’t have one. 💔 Our kids are watching. 🇺🇸 www.nytimes.com/2026/01/31/o...

Yesterday, five-year-old Liam and his dad Adrian were released from Dilley detention center. I picked them up last night and escorted them back to Minnesota this morning. Liam is now home. With his hat and his backpack.

This is one of the most powerful and heartbreaking things I have seen. These kids are hurting. Immigration enforcement has forever changed their childhood. We must protect children from policies that harm them, their families and the communities they live in. Children deserve safety and compassion.

New York Times Opinion@nytopinion.nytimes.com · 6mo ago

Liam Ramos’ classmates miss him, so they decided to write letters to the ICE agents who took him. “Dear ICE,” one student wrote, “You are scaring schools, people and the world.”

25% of children in the US live with at least one immigrant parent. That’s 25% of our nation’s children living in fear of the impact of immigration enforcement on their families. We must do better for kids.

Austin Kocher, PhD@austinkocher.com · 6mo ago

5.5 million U.S.-born children live in mixed-status families. As ICE enforcement ramps up, deportations are pushing families toward separation, poverty, and foster care, especially when undocumented parents are detained without notice dailybruin.com/2026/01/29/m...

Thank you for your incredible work and advocacy to bring attention to the harms of child detention, @joaquincastrotx.bsky.social. It’s a huge relief that Liam will be released. Let’s keep going to get all kids out and shut down family detention all together. It is far too dangerous for kids.

Joaquin Castro@joaquincastrotx.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Judge Biery ordered ICE to release Liam. I’ve reached out to Liam’s mom and lawyers to let them know I will continue to do everything I can to make sure he is safe. Thank you to folks all across the country & around the world for speaking out in support of Liam & so many other children in detention.

No child should ever been detained. We have clear policy on this in pediatrics because we know the acute and longterm harms.

Joaquin Castro@joaquincastrotx.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Liam misses his mother and his schoolmates. All of the children at the Dilley detention center long for the lives that were ripped away from them. No child should be in a place like this.

Immigration enforcement should never come at the cost of the health, safety or dignity of children.

Kids in Need of Defense@supportkind.org · 6mo ago

‼️Children’s safety must guide immigration enforcement. After deadly DHS and ICE operations in Minnesota, Congress must use the FY2026 budget to rein in harmful practices and protect kids from further harm. Take action: https://bit.ly/3ZDy9d4

Liam needs urgent medical care. No child should ever be detained. He is manifesting many signs of physical and emotional distress. Pediatricians have long been clear: no amount of detention is ever safe for a child. End family detention now.

Christopher Webb@cwebbonline.com · 7mo ago

Liam is in ICE custody and his health is deteriorating. Joaquin Castro says Liam is depressed, lethargic, sleeping excessively and barely eating, repeatedly asking about his mom, and when he can go home. He’s withdrawn and not the bright preschooler he was just days ago. LIAM NEEDS A DOCTOR 1/2

Liam needs urgent access to medical care. No child should be detained. Pediatricians and child advocates have been sounding the alarm for years: detention is dangerous and puts the lives and health of kids at risk.

Joaquin Castro@joaquincastrotx.bsky.social · 6mo ago

I will be putting in notice Friday morning with DHS to return to Dilley to check on Liam again and the many other children and families there. Liam did not look well. My staff and I are very concerned about him.

Thank you for this critical oversight, Congresswoman @crockett.house.gov. Pediatricians and other child health advocates stand with you and your colleagues to end this inhumane treatment of children. No amount of time is safe for children in detention. None. This must end now.

Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett @crockett.house.gov · 7mo ago

Today, Rep. Castro and I visited precious Liam and his father, Adrian, at the Dilley Detention Center. My heart absolutely breaks for Liam, his family, and every person being wrongfully detained.

No amount of time is safe for children in detention. Pediatricians and child advocates know the harms and fear deeply for Liam and all children being detained. Thank you Rep @joaquincastrotx.bsky.social for this critical oversight. Family detention must end.

Joaquin Castro@joaquincastrotx.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Just visited with Liam and his father at Dilley detention center. I demanded his release and told him how much his family, his school, and our country loves him and is praying for him.