Punished for Protesting, Talking to Press, and Having a Toothache: More Dilley Horror Stories

Detainees at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the nation's only family detention center, filed new sworn declarations describing threats and retaliation by guards for protesting, speaking to media, and filing grievances—with staff destroying children's letters and confiscating art supplies in some cases. The 361-page court filing contains accounts from January through March 2026 that allege guards threatened to criminally charge detainees for participating in peaceful protests, locked families in rooms during congressional visits, and withheld medical care for a toddler with a severe tooth infection. Detainees also reported receiving better food and different treatment when reporters or politicians visited, suggesting the facility altered conditions to obscure routine practices from outside scrutiny. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment, while CoreCivic, the private prison company operating Dilley, denied the allegations as "baseless" in an email statement.