Texas State Troopers prepare to disperse a crowd protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside the South Texas Family Residential Center on January 28, 2026 in Dilley, Texas, where the El Gamal family has been held since June 2025.
Judge Orders ICE to Release Family Who Spoke Out About Medical Neglect, Poor Conditions in Detention
Hayam El Gamal and her five children were detained last June after her husband was charged in connection with an attack in Colorado.
A lawyer for a family that has spent close to a year at an immigration detention center in Texas at the insistence of the Trump administration demanded the family's release late Monday after a federal magistrate judge found that "requiring them to endure further detention... risks compounding the constitutional violation."
“A federal court has determined [US Immigration and Customs Enforcement]'s prolonged detention of this family violates the Constitution,” the lawyer, Eric Lee, told The Houston Chronicle. “Nevertheless, ICE has not yet released the family. No more delays, no more obfuscations: release the El Gamal family immediately."
Hayam El Gamal and her five children, including five-year-old twins, were detained last June after her husband, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, was charged in connection with a firebombing attack that targeted protesters who were calling for the release of Israeli hostages who had been kidnapped in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack.
The family has reportedly been detained longer than any other immigrant family under the Trump administration. Under court-mandated restrictions, the federal government is not permitted to detain children longer than 20 days.
El Gamal entered divorce proceedings with her husband after his arrest and is legally separated from him. She has maintained that she and her children knew nothing about his plans to attack the protesters, but the White House's official account on the social media platform X threatened the family with deportation after they were detained.
“Six One-Way Tickets for Mohamed’s Wife and Five Kids. Final Boarding Call Coming Soon,” the White House said last June. Then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also said the Department of Homeland Security was investigating what the family knew about the attack.
Three months after they were taken to Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Dilley, Texas, an immigration judge determined last September that the Egyptian family did not pose a threat to the public and ordered them released on a $15,000 bond, but the Board of Immigration Appeals—part of the executive branch—ordered the judge to hold a new hearing and he later reversed his decision.
Monday's ruling came days after El Gamal was taken to a local emergency room with a lump in her chest; Lee said in court filings that El Gamal had not been given proper medical attention at Dilley. Doctors at the local hospital found fluid around El Gamal's heart but did not determine the cause of the lump. Lee told the Chronicle that ensuring El Gamal, who fears the lump could be cancerous due to her family history and medical neglect at the facility, gets urgent medical care following her release is a top priority.
The family has raised alarm for months about medical neglect, which has been reported at numerous ICE facilities, as well as rotten food and unsafe drinking water.
"I have seen with my own eyes, food that has mold in it. I even saw food with actual worms," El Gamal's 16-year-old son wrote in a letter shared publicly by Lee earlier this year. He also said he suffered "severe abdominal pain" and was unable to walk to the facility's medical unit. He was finally taken to the unit hours later in a wheelchair, but was told by a nurse, "I can’t help you. Go and come back if you still have pain in 3 days." He later vomited and was taken to an emergency room where it was determined he had appendicitis.
A friend of El Gamal's eldest child was among those who spoke out on behalf of the family at a protest at Dilley on Sunday and read from a letter written by Hayam El Gamal.
"My kids, two of whom are five years old, have been struggling to live in a place that isn't suitable for such long periods of time," the young woman read. "We didn't do anything to deserve this. Children shouldn't be punished for their parents' actions."
Friends of the family in Colorado Springs, where they lived before their detention, also organized a rally over the weekend.
"Reminder that children shouldn't have to organize protests to release their classmates from prolonged federal detention!" said Lee.
US Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), who has advocated for the El Gamal family and other families detained at Dilley, noted that one of El Gamal's five-year-old children was also denied dental care.
Lee told The Texas Tribune that conditions have deteriorated for the El Gamal family since they began speaking out about their treatment at Dilley. The eldest daughter in the family, 18-year-old Habiba Soliman, was separated from her mother and siblings after telling reporters about the conditions at the center.
The attorney told NBC News that the family "feels vindicated" by the judge's decision, but "they have gone through enough in the last 10 and a half months of detention to know it’s not over yet, because of how brazen and sadistic the White House has been to this family and five innocent children."
"They're still detained," said Lee Monday night. "Release the El Gamal family immediately!"
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A lawyer for a family that has spent close to a year at an immigration detention center in Texas at the insistence of the Trump administration demanded the family's release late Monday after a federal magistrate judge found that "requiring them to endure further detention... risks compounding the constitutional violation."
“A federal court has determined [US Immigration and Customs Enforcement]'s prolonged detention of this family violates the Constitution,” the lawyer, Eric Lee, told The Houston Chronicle. “Nevertheless, ICE has not yet released the family. No more delays, no more obfuscations: release the El Gamal family immediately."
Hayam El Gamal and her five children, including five-year-old twins, were detained last June after her husband, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, was charged in connection with a firebombing attack that targeted protesters who were calling for the release of Israeli hostages who had been kidnapped in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack.
The family has reportedly been detained longer than any other immigrant family under the Trump administration. Under court-mandated restrictions, the federal government is not permitted to detain children longer than 20 days.
El Gamal entered divorce proceedings with her husband after his arrest and is legally separated from him. She has maintained that she and her children knew nothing about his plans to attack the protesters, but the White House's official account on the social media platform X threatened the family with deportation after they were detained.
“Six One-Way Tickets for Mohamed’s Wife and Five Kids. Final Boarding Call Coming Soon,” the White House said last June. Then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also said the Department of Homeland Security was investigating what the family knew about the attack.
Three months after they were taken to Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Dilley, Texas, an immigration judge determined last September that the Egyptian family did not pose a threat to the public and ordered them released on a $15,000 bond, but the Board of Immigration Appeals—part of the executive branch—ordered the judge to hold a new hearing and he later reversed his decision.
Monday's ruling came days after El Gamal was taken to a local emergency room with a lump in her chest; Lee said in court filings that El Gamal had not been given proper medical attention at Dilley. Doctors at the local hospital found fluid around El Gamal's heart but did not determine the cause of the lump. Lee told the Chronicle that ensuring El Gamal, who fears the lump could be cancerous due to her family history and medical neglect at the facility, gets urgent medical care following her release is a top priority.
The family has raised alarm for months about medical neglect, which has been reported at numerous ICE facilities, as well as rotten food and unsafe drinking water.
"I have seen with my own eyes, food that has mold in it. I even saw food with actual worms," El Gamal's 16-year-old son wrote in a letter shared publicly by Lee earlier this year. He also said he suffered "severe abdominal pain" and was unable to walk to the facility's medical unit. He was finally taken to the unit hours later in a wheelchair, but was told by a nurse, "I can’t help you. Go and come back if you still have pain in 3 days." He later vomited and was taken to an emergency room where it was determined he had appendicitis.
A friend of El Gamal's eldest child was among those who spoke out on behalf of the family at a protest at Dilley on Sunday and read from a letter written by Hayam El Gamal.
"My kids, two of whom are five years old, have been struggling to live in a place that isn't suitable for such long periods of time," the young woman read. "We didn't do anything to deserve this. Children shouldn't be punished for their parents' actions."
Friends of the family in Colorado Springs, where they lived before their detention, also organized a rally over the weekend.
"Reminder that children shouldn't have to organize protests to release their classmates from prolonged federal detention!" said Lee.
US Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), who has advocated for the El Gamal family and other families detained at Dilley, noted that one of El Gamal's five-year-old children was also denied dental care.
Lee told The Texas Tribune that conditions have deteriorated for the El Gamal family since they began speaking out about their treatment at Dilley. The eldest daughter in the family, 18-year-old Habiba Soliman, was separated from her mother and siblings after telling reporters about the conditions at the center.
The attorney told NBC News that the family "feels vindicated" by the judge's decision, but "they have gone through enough in the last 10 and a half months of detention to know it’s not over yet, because of how brazen and sadistic the White House has been to this family and five innocent children."
"They're still detained," said Lee Monday night. "Release the El Gamal family immediately!"
- 'Cruelty Is the Point': Private Prison Giants Set to Cash In as Trump Revives Family Detention ›
- Twenty-Nine Families Ordered Released from Dilley Detention Center ›
- 5-Year-Old Detained by ICE in Austin Will Be Deported With Father | Common Dreams ›
A lawyer for a family that has spent close to a year at an immigration detention center in Texas at the insistence of the Trump administration demanded the family's release late Monday after a federal magistrate judge found that "requiring them to endure further detention... risks compounding the constitutional violation."
“A federal court has determined [US Immigration and Customs Enforcement]'s prolonged detention of this family violates the Constitution,” the lawyer, Eric Lee, told The Houston Chronicle. “Nevertheless, ICE has not yet released the family. No more delays, no more obfuscations: release the El Gamal family immediately."
Hayam El Gamal and her five children, including five-year-old twins, were detained last June after her husband, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, was charged in connection with a firebombing attack that targeted protesters who were calling for the release of Israeli hostages who had been kidnapped in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack.
The family has reportedly been detained longer than any other immigrant family under the Trump administration. Under court-mandated restrictions, the federal government is not permitted to detain children longer than 20 days.
El Gamal entered divorce proceedings with her husband after his arrest and is legally separated from him. She has maintained that she and her children knew nothing about his plans to attack the protesters, but the White House's official account on the social media platform X threatened the family with deportation after they were detained.
“Six One-Way Tickets for Mohamed’s Wife and Five Kids. Final Boarding Call Coming Soon,” the White House said last June. Then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also said the Department of Homeland Security was investigating what the family knew about the attack.
Three months after they were taken to Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Dilley, Texas, an immigration judge determined last September that the Egyptian family did not pose a threat to the public and ordered them released on a $15,000 bond, but the Board of Immigration Appeals—part of the executive branch—ordered the judge to hold a new hearing and he later reversed his decision.
Monday's ruling came days after El Gamal was taken to a local emergency room with a lump in her chest; Lee said in court filings that El Gamal had not been given proper medical attention at Dilley. Doctors at the local hospital found fluid around El Gamal's heart but did not determine the cause of the lump. Lee told the Chronicle that ensuring El Gamal, who fears the lump could be cancerous due to her family history and medical neglect at the facility, gets urgent medical care following her release is a top priority.
The family has raised alarm for months about medical neglect, which has been reported at numerous ICE facilities, as well as rotten food and unsafe drinking water.
"I have seen with my own eyes, food that has mold in it. I even saw food with actual worms," El Gamal's 16-year-old son wrote in a letter shared publicly by Lee earlier this year. He also said he suffered "severe abdominal pain" and was unable to walk to the facility's medical unit. He was finally taken to the unit hours later in a wheelchair, but was told by a nurse, "I can’t help you. Go and come back if you still have pain in 3 days." He later vomited and was taken to an emergency room where it was determined he had appendicitis.
A friend of El Gamal's eldest child was among those who spoke out on behalf of the family at a protest at Dilley on Sunday and read from a letter written by Hayam El Gamal.
"My kids, two of whom are five years old, have been struggling to live in a place that isn't suitable for such long periods of time," the young woman read. "We didn't do anything to deserve this. Children shouldn't be punished for their parents' actions."
Friends of the family in Colorado Springs, where they lived before their detention, also organized a rally over the weekend.
"Reminder that children shouldn't have to organize protests to release their classmates from prolonged federal detention!" said Lee.
US Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), who has advocated for the El Gamal family and other families detained at Dilley, noted that one of El Gamal's five-year-old children was also denied dental care.
Lee told The Texas Tribune that conditions have deteriorated for the El Gamal family since they began speaking out about their treatment at Dilley. The eldest daughter in the family, 18-year-old Habiba Soliman, was separated from her mother and siblings after telling reporters about the conditions at the center.
The attorney told NBC News that the family "feels vindicated" by the judge's decision, but "they have gone through enough in the last 10 and a half months of detention to know it’s not over yet, because of how brazen and sadistic the White House has been to this family and five innocent children."
"They're still detained," said Lee Monday night. "Release the El Gamal family immediately!"
- 'Cruelty Is the Point': Private Prison Giants Set to Cash In as Trump Revives Family Detention ›
- Twenty-Nine Families Ordered Released from Dilley Detention Center ›
- 5-Year-Old Detained by ICE in Austin Will Be Deported With Father | Common Dreams ›