Children locked inside US immigration detention centres have become suicidal, cut themselves, and suffered panic attacks during confinement that stretches weeks and sometimes months beyond what federal courts allow, families and lawyers have revealed.
A nine-year-old girl held in ICE custody reportedly told those around her she wished to 'no longer be alive'. The account, which has drawn renewed scrutiny to conditions inside family detention, follows a growing body of sworn declarations, court filings and medical evidence describing severe psychological harm among children held for prolonged periods.
The girl's identity has not been made public. Her words, though, sit alongside dozens of similar accounts now before federal judges.
The rules governing child detention in the US are not new.The detention of migrant children in the United States is governed primarily by theFlores Settlement Agreement, a 1997 federal court accord requiring authorities to hold minors in safe, sanitary conditions and to release them 'without unnecessary delay'. Courts have generally interpreted the agreement as limiting detention to roughly 20 days except under narrow circumstances.
Recent filings inFlores v. Bondishow persistent disputes over compliance. Attorneys representing detained families told the US District Court that children continue to be held for weeks or months in facilities resembling adult detention centres, despite court oversight.
According to lawyers, parents, and children who have spoken to media outlets, what is happening at the Dilley Immigration Processing Centre in South Texas looks nothing like compliance.
An analysis byThe Marshall Projectof ICE data found that more than 1,300 children were held longer than 20 days in a single year. Lawyers working on the Flores case identified at least five children who had been at Dilley for more than five months. Some 3,500 adults and children have passed through the facility since it reopened under the current administration, legal aid organisations said.
The government's own court filings acknowledged that extended custody of children is a 'widespread operational challenge.' ICE blamed transportation delays, medical needs and legal processing for slowing releases.
Attorneys for detained families said those reasons do not come close to explaining the scale of the problem.
Federal judges have repeatedly reaffirmed that children must be processed and released as quickly as possible. In August 2025, a court order enforcing Flores stressed that facilities used for short-term processing were 'wholly inappropriate and harmful' when children were confined for extended periods.
Source: International Business Times UK
