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joaquin castro
'Monstrous': ICE Deports 2-Month-Old Juan Nicolás Hours After Hospitalization
"To unnecessarily deport a sick baby and his entire family is heinous," said US Rep. Joaquin Castro.
Feb 18, 2026
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has deported 2-month-old Juan Nicolás to Mexico—along with his 16-month-old sister, mother, and father—following the infant's hospitalization for respiratory issues and vomiting, which he suffered after spending more than three weeks in a Texas detention center run by the notorious private prison firm CoreCivic.
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), who has been pushing the Trump administration to release Juan and his family, confirmed late Tuesday that they were deported after speaking with the family's attorney, who told the lawmaker that ICE removed them from the US "with only the money that they had in their commissary—a total of $190." Castro wrote that "to unnecessarily deport a sick baby and his entire family is heinous."
"My staff and I are in contact with Juan’s family," Castro added. "We are laser-focused on tracking them down, holding ICE accountable for this monstrous action, demanding specific details on their whereabouts and well-being, and ensuring their safety."
According to Migrant Insider's Pablo Manríquez, Juan Nicolás "has been fighting respiratory illness in a facility where measles recently walked through the door, where mothers report struggling to get clean water for formula, where sick children cycle through ibuprofen and basic antibiotics until they deteriorate badly enough that someone finally calls an ambulance."
"Which is what happened Monday night. An ambulance came," Manríquez wrote. "It was, depending on how you look at it, either a rescue or an admission of guilt."
Juan's mother told Castro that the baby is suffering from bronchitis. "We are all deeply concerned that Juan and his mom will be deported and that Juan’s health will continue to deteriorate," the Texas Democrat wrote Tuesday afternoon. "His life is in danger because of ICE’s monstrous cruelty."
Univision journalist Lidia Terrazas crossed into Mexico and located Juan and his family in the hours following their deportation. The reporter later posted a photo with Juan on Instagram.
🚨BREAKING: The great @LidiaTerrazas has found Juan Nicolás, the two-month-old ICE deported today to Mexico.
Update coming tomorrow at https://t.co/HpQYb2bjiA https://t.co/enYyUH0KzO pic.twitter.com/vP2tqMqvNd
— Pablo Manríquez (@PabloReports) February 18, 2026
The number of children held in ICE detention has skyrocketed during President Donald Trump's second White House term, rising more than sixfold. A recent analysis by The Marshall Project found that "on some days, ICE held 400 children or more."
"They are literally being treated as prisoners," Castro said after spending more than two hours inside the CoreCivic facility in Dilley, Texas last month. "This is a monstrous machine."
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2-Month-Old Infant Juan Nicolás Rushed From Texas Detention Center to Hospital
The hospitalization came two days after the baby had a previous medical episode in which he was reportedly "choking on his own vomit."
Feb 17, 2026
As advocates including US Rep. Joaquin Castro demanded the immediate release of a 2-month-old baby, Juan Nicolás, who has been detained with his mother at Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Dilley, Texas for close to half of his young life, the infant was rushed to a hospital early in the morning on Tuesday after suffering from respiratory issues and vomiting in recent days.
Lidia Terrezas, a reporter for Univision, spoke to officials at the Dilley detention center and reported in an Instagram video that Juan Nicolás had been transported via ambulance at about 7:00 pm Central time. KABB Fox News 29 in San Antonio reported Tuesday morning that the baby had been "treated and released."
"It's unclear what happened for them to take him to the hospital," said Terrezas. "It is my understanding that he was taken by ambulance. So at some point the decision was made that he should be taken to a hospital immediately."
The reported hospitalization came two days after the baby had "a medical episode at approximately 3:00 am Saturday," according to the San Antonio Current, and hours after Castro (D-Texas) provided an update about the infant's condition after being detained at Dilley nearly a month ago.
"He's been sick consistently," said Castro in a video posted on X. "He was vomiting, he's been having respiratory issues. They came to check on him when he was having these issues, but they couldn't take him to see a doctor because there was no doctor in the early morning hours at Dilley."
During an earlier visit to Dilley, Castro saw the facility's medical wing, complete with beds for children and families who need medical attention at the center built to hold up to 2,400 people—but witnessed no actual medical providers working there.
"These kids should be released, and these folks who have committed no crime should not be in this trailer prison," said Castro.
Dilley Update: Maria Isabella (7) released on her birthday but Juan Nicolás (2 mo) remains imprisoned in Dilley. Please keep speaking up! #FreeOurChildren #DilleyTrailerPrison pic.twitter.com/lIDRLnsUOG
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) February 16, 2026
In his earlier medical episode, Juan Nicolás was described as "choking on his own vomit."
"This baby in particular is very vulnerable," said Castro Monday. "For those of you that are parents... you know how vulnerable kids are at the age of 2 months. And so I have been pressing [US Immigration and Customs Enforcement] hard to let Juan Nicolás go free... They are on notice that he has been sick, that they don't have the medical capacity to treat him properly, and that his life, if this continues, could be in danger."
CoreCivic, the private prison company that runs Dilley, claims the medical wing is fully staffed and offers 24/7 care, according to NBC News Channel 4 in San Antonio.
But Castro's report of the facility's failure to provide medical care is not incongruous with numerous reports of medical neglect at other detention centers where ICE is detaining tens of thousands of people, including about 170 children on any given day, on average.
Detainees have reported being unable to access medical care at facilities including Krome North Service Processing Center in Florida; North Lake Processing Center in Michigan, where an immigrant named Nenko Stanev Gantchev was found dead in his cell in December; and Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, where at least three people have died in 44 days recently.
El País reported on Monday on medical neglect of children at Dilley. A 5-year-old boy suffered acute appendicitis "with severe pain," according to the newspaper.
"The staff member responsible for attending to him told his mother to come back in three days if the pain continued," reported El País. "He lay on the floor in agony for hours until, after they saw him vomiting, he was finally taken to a doctor and eventually underwent surgery. After he was discharged from the hospital, it was difficult to obtain the medication he had been prescribed."
The 1997 Flores Agreement set a 20-day maximum for children to be held in immigration detention, but with Juan Nicolás detained for about three and a half weeks, according to Castro, the baby is one of hundreds of children who have been held at Dilley for at least a month.
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Judge Denies DHS Bid to Quickly Deport Family of 5-Year-Old Liam Conejo Ramos
“Our concern remains centered on Liam and all children who deserve stability, safety, and the opportunity to be in school without fear," said an advocate for the family.
Feb 07, 2026
The Trump administration's bid to expedite deportation proceedings against 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his family faltered Friday as a judge granted them more time to plead their asylum case.
Danielle Molliver, an attorney for Ramos' family, told CNN that a judge issued a continuance in the case, meaning it is postponed to a later date.
The US Department of Homeland Security filed a motion Wednesday seeking to fast-track the Ecuadorian family's deportation. The family responded by asking the court for additional time to reply to the DHS motion.
Zena Stenvik, superintendent of the Columbia Heights Public Schools, where Ramos is a student, told CNN that Friday’s ruling “provides additional time, and with that, continued uncertainty for a child and his family."
“Our concern remains centered on Liam and all children who deserve stability, safety, and the opportunity to be in school without fear," Stenvik added. "We will continue to advocate for outcomes that prioritize children."
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Ramos and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, in the driveway of their Columbia Heights home on January 20 during Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration's ongoing deadly immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities.
They were taken to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center southwest of San Antonio, Texas. Run by ICE and private prison profiteer CoreCivic, the facility has been plagued by reports of poor health and hygiene conditions and accusations of inadequate medical care for children.
Detainees report prison-like conditions and say they’ve been served moldy food infested with worms and forced to drink putrid water. Some have described the facility as “truly a living hell.”
Ramos, who fell ill during his detention in Dilley, and his father were ordered released earlier this month on a federal judge's order, and is now back in Minnesota.
Molliver accused the Trump administration of retaliating against the family following their release. Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin claimed that “there is nothing retaliatory about enforcing the nation’s immigration laws."
Arias told Minnesota Public Radio Friday that he is uncertain about his family's future.
"The government is moving many pieces, it's doing everything possible to do us harm, so that they’ll probably deport us," he said. "We live with that fear too."
Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), who helped accompany Ramos and his father back to Minnesota, said at a Friday news conference that DHS "should leave Liam alone."
“His family came in legally through the asylum process,” Castro said. “And when I left the Dilley detention center, one of the ICE officers explained to me that his father was on a one-year parole in place, so they should allow that to continue.”
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