Full Breakdown
Surge in ICE Detention of Babies and Toddlers Under Trump Administration
6/10/2026, 9:58:04 PM
Record Detention of Infants and Toddlers
Between January 2025 and March 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained at least 500 children aged three or younger, averaging 25 per day. The figure is ten times higher than the average of fewer than 3 per day recorded during the final year of the Biden administration. At least 175 of those children were held beyond the court-mandated 20-day limit established by the 2015 Flores v. Reno opinion.
Policy Shift and Legal Context
The surge follows President Donald Trump’s second inauguration, during which his administration intensified immigration enforcement. The 20-day limit stems from a 2015 federal-court interpretation of the 1997 Flores settlement, which caps the duration children may be confined. No children were held past that limit under the preceding Biden administration.
Key Figures and Organizations
- Marsha Griffin – Pediatrics professor, co-founder of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Council on Immigrant Child and Family Health.
- Lori Goodman – CEO of LEAP, a nonprofit aiding families with young children.
- Elora Mukherjee – Columbia Law School professor representing detained children.
- ICE, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), CoreCivic (private-prison operator of Dilley Immigration Processing Center).
- MS NOW and The Marshall Project, researchers who compiled the data via the Deportation Data Project.
Scale of Detention: Data and Statistics
- ? 500 babies/toddlers detained (Jan 2025-Mar 2026).
- Average 25 children per day; 10× the Biden-era average.
- >= 175 held > 20 days; 0 under Biden.
- Dilley Immigration Processing Center (Texas) identified as the primary site, reopened after closure by the Biden administration.
Health Impacts and On-the-Ground Accounts
- Kaleth, 2 years old, stopped eating for 12 days, vomited, and ceased bowel movements while detained at Dilley.
- Amir, 1 year old, was forced off formula and given unsuitable solid food; his mother reported feeding him spicy pasta sauce to keep him nourished.
- A separate 1-year-old was denied medication beyond Tylenol, later hospitalized with COVID-19, ear infection, pneumonia, bronchitis and RSV.
Official Agency Statements
ICE officials say they are “working rapidly and overtime to remove these aliens from detention centers to their final destination — home.” They add that babies under 12 months receive bottled water for formula and that children have access to outdoor play structures, toys, multilingual books and age-appropriate meals. CoreCivic asserts Dilley provides “necessary supplies, including healthy food, drinking water and formula.” A DHS spokesperson emphasized that “ICE is not targeting children or separating families,” noting parents may choose to be removed with their children or designate a safe caretaker. Acting ICE director David Venturella announced ICE is “returning to the standard practice of reporting deaths that occur while an individual is in agency custody.”
Criticism and Opposition
Marsha Griffin warned that “the period of infancy and toddlerhood is probably the most harmful time of their lives to have them in detention,” adding “Our immigration system is breaking children.” Lori Goodman described a child’s distress as “manifested in his body in not being able to eat or digest,” and warned that longer confinement “creates more long-term damage.” Elora Mukherjee reported that most of her clients complained of “poor medical care,” citing vulnerability to fevers, vomiting, diarrhea and coughing. Protesters at the Delaney Hall facility in Newark staged a hunger strike over alleged rotten food, extreme heat and withheld medical care.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
ICE and CoreCivic claim adequate nutrition, hydration and recreational resources, while pediatric experts and nonprofit advocates document severe health deterioration and insufficient medical treatment. Independent verification of facility conditions remains limited.
Verbatim Quotes
- “The period from infancy through toddlerhood is "probably the most harmful time of their lives to have them in detention," Griffin said.” — Marsha Griffin, Pediatrics professor
- “Our immigration system is breaking children.” — Marsha Griffin
- “He was so distressed that it manifested in his body in not being able to eat or digest,” — Lori Goodman, CEO of LEAP
- “Reached for comment, a DHS spokesperson told the Daily Beast in a statement: “ICE is not targeting children or separating families.” — DHS spokesperson
- “is working rapidly and overtime to remove these aliens from detention centers to their final destination — home.” — ICE spokesperson
- “ICE is returning to the standard practice of reporting deaths that occur while an individual is in agency custody,” — David Venturella, Acting ICE Director
Future Outlook
MS NOW and The Marshall Project plan continued monitoring of ICE detention trends, while advocacy groups call for stricter enforcement of the Flores 20-day limit and independent health inspections. The reversal of ICE’s death-reporting policy may affect transparency as protests and legal challenges persist.
