Immigration advocacy groups say they’ve seen more infants in US detention in recent weeks than in the past three years combined.
At least nine infants under the age of 1, and some as young as 6 months, have been detained by US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement at a Texas detention center where they lack adequate medical care, immigrant advocates said in a complaint filed with the federal government on Thursday.
The complaint submitted by the American Immigration Council, American Immigration Lawyers Association, and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, said there was an “an alarming increase” in infants and their mothers detained at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas.
At least one infant has been detained for more than 20 days, the complaint said, a potential violation of the decades-old Flores settlement that stated children can’t be held in custody for more than 20 days.