Congressman Works to Free Families from Notorious Texas Immigration Detention Center

Rep. Joaquin Castro has made repeated visits to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, helping to reduce the population from 1,100 to just 450 since January.

Mar. 20, 2026 at 9:50am

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In the year since the Trump administration ramped up its mass-deportation campaign, members of Congress have attempted various things to rein in ICE or conduct oversight, often to little avail. However, Rep. Joaquin Castro has been quietly working to help free people, especially families and children, from the notorious Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas. Since his first visit in January, the population at the center has dropped from 1,100 to just 450.

Why it matters

The Dilley facility has faced years of scandal over the poor conditions and treatment of detainees, especially children. While much of the focus has been on ICE, Castro argues that the private contractors running the facility, like CoreCivic, are also culpable for the substandard food, medical care, and lack of education provided to those held there.

The details

Castro has become a regular visitor to Dilley, helping to secure the release of the "mariachi teens" and other families. He says the administration has made conditions worse by not providing education services for nearly a year. Detainees also face issues like worms in the food, dirty water, and family separation, with fathers kept separately from their children. Despite ICE claims that only those with criminal records are sent to Dilley, Castro says none of the 1,100 people there when he first visited had a criminal record.

  • In January 2026, Castro first visited the Dilley facility when the population was 1,100.
  • As of March 2026, the population at Dilley has dropped to just 450.

The players

Joaquin Castro

A U.S. Representative from Texas who has made repeated visits to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center to help secure the release of detainees, especially families and children.

CoreCivic

A private prison company that operates the Dilley facility and is responsible for providing food, medical care, and education services to detainees, which Castro says they have "utterly failed" at.

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What they’re saying

“Obviously I was very concerned, because I've seen kids in detention before with families, and also unaccompanied minors, and you can see the trauma in their eyes, what I think for many of them will be life-lasting trauma. That's what we've seen at Dilley.”

— Joaquin Castro, U.S. Representative

“We don't cut corners on care, staff or training, which meets, and in many cases exceeds, our government partners' standards.”

— CoreCivic Spokesman

What’s next

Castro has vowed to continue fighting to close the Dilley facility, which he believes no children should be held in. He plans to keep up the pressure on ICE and the private contractors running the center.

The takeaway

This case highlights the ongoing battle over immigration detention, with members of Congress like Castro working to expose the poor conditions and advocate for the release of families, even in Republican-held districts. It also underscores the role of private prison companies profiting off of the detention system and the challenges of conducting oversight on the Trump administration's deportation policies.