Deep Inside America’s Largest Immigration Detention Center
Forty miles south of San Antonio, on the scrubby flatlands of Frio County, sits the South Texas Family Residential Center — the largest immigration detention facility in the United States. Known simply as “Dilley,” the sprawling complex has become one of the most contested symbols in America’s long, unresolved argument over immigration enforcement.
Today, amid reports of spreading illness, dangerous overcrowding, and children warehoused in conditions that advocacy groups call unconscionable, the facility is once again at the center of a national firestorm.
The numbers alone are staggering.
The Dilley facility, operated under contract by CoreCivic for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is licensed to hold up to approximately 2,400 individuals — the majority of them mothers with young children, many fleeing violence in Central America. Attorneys, advocates, and former detainees describe a facility chronically struggling to maintain basic standards of sanitation, medical care, and human dignity.
Sick Children, Overwhelmed Staff
Reports from legal advocates with the CARA Pro Bono Project — a coalition of attorneys providing free legal services to detainees at Dilley — have documented recurring outbreaks of illness including respiratory infections, gastrointestinal disease, and influenza-like illness sweeping through the facility’s close-quartered dormitories. Children, whose immune systems are already compromised by the stress of migration and the trauma of detention, are disproportionately affected.
In multiple reported instances, sick children waited days to be seen by medical staff. Mothers described pleading with guards for basic medications like fever reducers and being turned away. The ACLU and other organizations have filed complaints alleging that detainees with serious symptoms — including high fevers in infants — were not triaged in a timely manner.
“These are not dangerous criminals. These are mothers and babies,” said one CARA attorney in testimony submitted to Congress. “And they are being held in conditions that most Americans would consider unacceptable for their pets.”
The physical environment compounds the health risks. Families describe sleeping in large open bays with little privacy, shared bathrooms serving dozens of families, and food that leaves detainees — especially children accustomed to different diets — chronically undernourished.
The Political Battleground
Dilley has become a proxy war in the broader fight over U.S. immigration policy. The facility was first opened under the Obama administration in 2014, amid a surge of Central American families at the southern border, and expanded rapidly. It was briefly ordered closed by a federal court under a consent decree known as the Flores settlement, which established minimum standards for the detention of migrant children, including that children may not be held in unlicensed facilities for more than 20 days.
Trump and Republicans are the party of mass deportations. As a result, people are dying in ICE custody and U.S. citizens are wrongfully deported.
— Nanette D. Barragán (@RepBarragan) March 11, 2026
I heard directly from immigrant families at the Dilley detention center how they were ripped away from their children and… pic.twitter.com/Y6ojwefJ1y
The Trump administration has repeatedly pushed to circumvent the Flores agreement, arguing that family detention is a necessary deterrent against illegal border crossings. The Biden administration vacillated — initially pledging to end family detention, then quietly maintaining and later expanding it as border crossings surged. Now, under renewed enforcement pressure, facilities like Dilley are operating at or beyond capacity again.
Proponents of the facility argue it serves a vital operational function. “Without the ability to detain families pending their hearings, most will simply not appear,” argued one Republican senator during a recent Senate Judiciary hearing. “The alternative is catch-and-release.”
Opponents counter that the United States has no legal or moral justification for incarcerating children — many of them toddlers and infants — who have committed no crime. “Seeking asylum is legal,” said a Democratic congresswoman who toured the facility. “What is happening inside those walls is not.”
PODCAST
As the Trump administration’s aggressive mass deportation campaign has ramped up, so have the profits of private prison companies. This week, we take a look at CoreCivic, the Tennessee-based company that is one of the two largest operators of private prisons in the United States. It has been in the immigrant detention business for more than 40 years, and last year was one of its best ever thanks to its close relationship with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. We listen in on CoreCivics most recent quarterly earnings call, full of rising revenue numbers and rosy projections — and we annotate it with context and background that the executives somehow failed to mention to their investors. We also take a look at the company’s history, and its direct connections to the South’s ugly legacy of for-profit prisons.
(Episode from March 2, 2026)
“This prolonged detention has and continues to destroy our lives. It is slowly killing us on the inside,” the 16-year-old boy wrote in a letter submitted Wednesday. “Our mental health is at great risk. It is rapidly deteriorating with every day we spend here. Our lives are without purpose. We are just waiting for this nightmare to end.”
From the Texas Tribune.
Some sad news. I'm told a young girl detained at Dilley attempted to take her own life this weekend.
— Eric Lee (@EricLeeAtty) February 5, 2026
DHS issued a cryptic statement that seems to acknowledge something took place, calling it a "self-harm incident."
Statement raises more Qs than Answers. Dilley must be closed!
There have been at least 11 medical emergencies at Dilley trailer prison requiring EMS. I have heard story after story of ICE failing to provide proper medical attention to children and families. One teen boy I met had excruciating stomach pain and was made to wait several hours… https://t.co/NOPaZpz4hG
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) February 27, 2026
BREAKING: Horrifying footage shows children SCREAMING inside ICE concentration camp where kidnapped 5-year-old was taken! pic.twitter.com/Qp1Ae75sP6
— Occupy Democrats (@OccupyDemocrats) January 25, 2026
A deeply disturbing video taken by activists outside of the ICE gulag in Dilley, Texas, shows children audibly screaming inside the…
A System Under Strain
Beyond the politics, there is the human reality. Advocates describe women who have survived gang violence, sexual assault, and extortion — only to arrive in the United States and be locked inside another institution. Psychologists who have evaluated children at Dilley have documented symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, regression, and acute anxiety. Some children have stopped speaking.
Immigration courts are overwhelmed, and many families at Dilley wait months for their initial hearings. The Flores settlement’s 20-day limit for children has been routinely exceeded. Legal challenges continue in federal courts, but the machinery of detention grinds on.
The cries from Dilley are not metaphorical. They are the documented, recorded, testified-to cries of children in a facility on Texas soil, in a country that calls itself a beacon of freedom.
Whether America chooses to hear them remains the question.
Sources
- CARA Pro Bono Project, reports and declarations filed with U.S. federal courts, 2023–2025. caracollective.org
- American Civil Liberties Union, Betraying Family Values: How Immigration Enforcement is Separating Families, ACLU report. aclu.org
- Flores v. Reno, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, original 1997 settlement and subsequent enforcement proceedings.
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, Management Alert — DHS Needs to Address Dangerous Overcrowding and Prolonged Detention of Children and Adults in the Rio Grande Valley, OIG-19-51, July 2019.
- Human Rights Watch, “Kids in Cages”: Inhumane Treatment at the Border, 2019. hrw.org
- The Texas Tribune, coverage of South Texas Family Residential Center, 2022–2025. texastribune.org
- ProPublica, reporting on ICE detention medical care failures, 2023–2024. propublica.org
- The Associated Press, reporting on Dilley facility conditions, 2024–2025.
- U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, hearings on immigration enforcement and family detention, 2024.
Three children were killed and at least four people injured after a fire broke out at a southeast Austin apartment complex early Wednesday morning. The Austin Fire Department received a call shortly after 12:50 a.m. about a fire at 2507 Burleson Road, near East Oltorf Street.
When crews arrived, fire was visible coming from multiple windows. Firefighters were met by three people outside who warned that others might still be inside. While one crew began fighting the fire, another entered the apartment to search — and found three children who had died.
The blaze was brought under control by 4:19 a.m. All three children who perished were members of the same family and were pronounced dead at the scene. Their mother is being treated at Dell Seton Medical Center, while their father and youngest sibling are receiving care at a burn center in San Antonio. One firefighter also suffered minor injuries. The fire displaced residents from approximately 30 units.
The family has not been publicly identified. East Austin Sports Teams (EAST) held a community vigil Wednesday night, noting that two of the children who died were young.
The cause of the blaze remains under investigation by the Austin Fire Department.
South by Southwest 2026 officially kicks off today in Austin, and the city is buzzing.
The conferences and festivals launch today with an opening slate of Innovation Conference tracks spanning Brand & Marketing, Cities & Climate, Creator Economy, Culture, Startups, Sports & Gaming, Tech & AI, and Workplace.
Today also serves as Crossover Day, allowing SXSW attendees to drop into SXSW EDU programming. This year’s edition carries a notable asterisk for longtime locals: it marks the first SXSW without the Austin Convention Center as the festival’s main hub, with the center under renovation and not expected to reopen until early 2029 — pushing events across multiple downtown venues and reshaping how attendees navigate the week.
One new addition welcoming the public is the Congress Avenue Block Party at 900 Congress, the former Registrant Lounge now open to anyone — badge or not — offering free drinks, food, and brand activations daily through March 18. The festival is marking its 40th anniversary this year, bringing all three pillars — Innovation, Film & TV, and Music — together within a single seven-day window for the first time.
What to know about traffic over the next several days:
Our #1 travel tip? ⏰✈️
— Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (@AustinAirport) March 11, 2026
Get to the terminal with plenty of time!
The Spring Festival and Spring Break season bring extra travelers to Austin, so we recommend arriving:
• 2.5 hours before domestic flights
• 3 hours before international flights
Safe Travels, y'all 👋 pic.twitter.com/AArFckodNp
PODCAST
So, what will SXSW’s 40th year look like?
Austin City Council meets today for its Regular Meeting.
A summary of today’s agenda:
Proclamations (9:00 AM)
- National Procurement Month, Protect Austin Kids Day, Latinas Run ATX, Long COVID Awareness Day, and a DSA recognition for Deborah Duncan
Consent Agenda Highlights
- Lobbyist regulation update — revising City Code Chapter 4-8 to tighten reporting and disclosure requirements
- Economic development deal with The Vortex (up to ~$108K over five years) to retain this local creative business
- Mixed-use development update at 800 E. St. John Ave., involving Greystar and the Housing Authority, with deeper affordability provisions
- Up to $575M in water/wastewater revenue bonds, partly to fund Walnut Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant improvements
- Various city contracts covering staffing, airport insurance, police vehicle maintenance, DocuSign licensing, library VOX books, and more
- Walnut Creek Treatment Plant expansion contract increase to $1.5 billion total
- Up to $1 billion EPA WIFIA loan authorization for Walnut Creek expansion
- Rezoning initiation for ~445 acres of city-owned golf course land (Jimmy Clay & Roy Kizer)
- Resolution to review summer youth employment and internship programs
Non-Consent / Public Hearings
- Austin Housing Finance Corporation board meeting
- Two disannexation hearings in District 10 (small residential parcels)
- Multiple zoning cases across the city, including Parmer Lane, South Lamar, East Cesar Chavez (liquor sales rezoning with community opposition), and Montopolis mixed-use development (second and third readings)
Public Communication (12:00 PM)
- Speakers on federal policy, parks/golf, and predatory parking boot practices
- Live music by FloMob and Big Cid
Austin City Council members are demanding an explanation from Waymo after footage surfaced of an autonomous vehicle obstructing an ambulance. The incident occurred on March 1 during the emergency response to a mass shooting at Buford’s bar on West Sixth Street. In the video, the Waymo vehicle blocks both lanes of traffic until an Austin police officer manually enters the car and relocates it to a nearby garage. (CBS Austin)
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson issued his latest Watson Wire and spoke of the many success stories in the city.
Austin police are searching for an aggravated assault suspect.
A Texas man caught with bomb-making components was allegedly planning to blow up a highway.
Authorities in Kerr and Gillespie counties confirm an officer-involved shooting occurred Wednesday evening following a pursuit that concluded on Interstate 10.
Austin ISD has started discussions about what to do with six of the 10 school campuses that will close at the end of the school year.
The owners of Cheer Up Charlies say they were briefly locked out of their Red River Street bar Wednesday after they failed to pay their rent on time. (KUT 90.5)
What used to be a landfill in Buda will soon become a brand new H-E-B.
A new Costco has opened in Liberty Hill.
Wednesday evening, motorists along Highway 290 saw something you don’t see everyday.
The pilot was uninjured and no other people or vehicles were affected by the emergency landing, which officials said was due to engine trouble. (KXAN-TV)
BIG NEWS for music fans…
WEATHER
RAIN TOTALS YESTERDAY
AUSTIN-BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
CAMP MABRY
The Waterline in Austin is the tallest building in Texas and this morning it made its own weather. The skyscraper is acting as an 'artificial mountain' forcing moist air upward to create its own private cloud cover through a process called urban orographic lift. Cool! @fox7austin pic.twitter.com/WeWXEZ6HiY
— Chris Walker (@WalkerATX) March 11, 2026
A brush fire near Ronald Reagan Boulevard in Georgetown was possibly caused by early morning storms.
WEDNESDAY’S HIGH / LOW TEMPERATURES
AUSTIN-BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
CAMP MABRY
5-DAY FORECAST / AUSTIN, TEXAS
An in-depth on new lake level projections released for Lake Travis and Lake Buchanan, two main water reservoirs serving Central Texas, show how different scenarios could impact their storage.
Texas health officials have adopted new measurement rules for THC in hemp products that could effectively prohibit smokable hemp forms statewide by March 31, shifting from measuring total THC content to delta-9 THC alone. (Texas Standard)
(Episode from March 11, 2026)
A Fort Worth federal jury is set to begin deliberating this morning in the Prairieland ICE detention center shooting trial, weighing a total of 65 charges against nine defendants accused of a coordinated attack on the facility in Alvarado last July 4.
Meanwhile, Bexar County commissioners are opposing a proposed ICE detention center in San Antonio.
A Texas man was put to death Wednesday evening for fatally stabbing his girlfriend and her 8-year-old son in 2013, apologizing profusely to her older son who survived with multiple stab wounds and witnessed the execution.
Cedric Ricks, 51, was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m. CDT following a lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. (KHOU-TV)
From CNN.
(Episode from March 10, 2026)
Austin is one of several Texas cities preparing to test “air taxis,” designed to offer quicker trips and ease highway congestion.
SPORTS
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Junior guard/forward Dailyn Swain posted a team-high 22 points to go along with a game-high 12 rebounds, but Texas (18-14, 9-9 SEC) dropped a 76-66 decision to Ole Miss (13-19, 4-14 SEC) on Wednesday night in the SEC Tournament First Round at Bridgestone Arena. With the loss, the Longhorns will wait to hear their NCAA Tournament fate on Selection Sunday (5 p.m. CT/CBS). (Texas Longhorns)
Longhorns head coach Sean Miller postgame:
Texas A&M takes on Oklahoma in the second round tonight.
In the Big 12…
NBA: A loss for the Houston Rockets last night.
Nikola Jokic had 16 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds for his 25th triple-double of the season, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Houston Rockets 129-93 in a Western Conference showdown Wednesday night. (Associated Press)
The Nuggets moved within a half-game of Houston in the bunched-up Western Conference standings.
The Rockets are off tonight while Dallas is in Memphis and the San Antonio Spurs host Denver.
NHL: The red hot Dallas Stars host Edmonton tonight.
Take a stroll down memory lane with some of SXSW’s first founders and biggest supporters and see just how far the festival has come since its inception in 1987.
