ICE Admits About 400 Migrant Children Were Held Beyond Court-Ordered 20-Day Limit

Federal court filings show that roughly 400 migrant children were held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody for more than the court-ordered 20-day limit between August and September, with some children detained for longer than five months, according to documents filed in a long-running civil case.

What the Filings Say

Attorneys for detained families filed the reports late Monday in a lawsuit that began in 1985 and produced court supervision of detention standards in 1997 — including the 20-day custody cap for children. The filings cite a Dec. 1 ICE report acknowledging the extended custody periods and say the issue was widespread, not limited to a single facility or region.

Reasons Cited by ICE

ICE attributed the delays to three primary factors: transportation setbacks, medical needs, and legal processing. Advocates countered that those explanations do not lawfully justify prolonged detention of children and noted that interviews with families identified five children held for 168 days. The filing did not specify those children’s ages.

Conditions and Care Concerns

Attorneys and monitors reported additional problems at federal family facilities, including limited access to medical care, inadequate legal representation, and food-safety issues. Advocates described incidents such as a child who bled from an eye injury and was not seen by medical staff for two days, and another child whose foot was allegedly broken when staff dropped a volleyball net pole. The filings also recount accounts of contaminated food — including reports of moldy vegetables and food with worms — and what advocates described as dismissive medical guidance for sick children.

“Medical staff told one family whose child got food poisoning to only return if the child vomited eight times,” the advocates wrote in their court response.

Use Of Hotels And Facility Updates

Federal court rules permit temporary use of hotels for up to 72 hours, but attorneys questioned ICE’s data and said it does not fully explain why some children remained in hotels longer than three days. Concerns persisted after the family detention site in Dilley, Texas, reopened this year; advocates documented injuries and limited medical care there.

Next Steps

Chief U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee of the Central District of California is scheduled to review the filings next week and could decide whether further court intervention is necessary. ICE did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Correction: The story was corrected to note that the court filing was submitted Monday evening, not Wednesday.