Pediatricians Send Letter to DHS Demanding Release of Children in ICE Detention
A coalition of nearly 4,000 medical professionals, led by board-certified pediatricians Anita K. Patel, Ashley Marie Cozzo, and Lara Jones, has issued a formal 58-page letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem demanding the immediate release of children from ICE detention. The letter highlights "substandard living conditions" and severe health risks at facilities like the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, citing peer-reviewed research linked to PTSD, depression, and developmental regression in detained minors. While the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advocates for community-based alternatives to detention, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) maintains that its facilities provide necessary medical and educational services. The medical community’s push for transparency and accountability comes amid reports of child hospitalizations and the return of mass deportation policies under the Trump administration, emphasizing that children possess unique physiological needs that make congregate incarceration inherently dangerous. RAICES reports 300 to 500 children and infants are detained by ICE on any given day in Texas.
