Attorney Calls for Working Class Movement to End Migrant Detention Cruelty

Eric Lee, who represents a family detained at the Dilley facility, says people, not politicians, must take action.

Mar. 14, 2026 at 2:49pm

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Attorney Eric Lee, who represents a family of six from Colorado detained at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley for nine months, says the ongoing detention of the family reveals a deeper rot within the immigration system that goes beyond the Trump administration. Lee argues the Democratic Party has historically failed to protect immigrant rights, and that a grassroots working class movement, not reliance on politicians, is needed to end the cruelty of migrant detention.

Why it matters

The case of the El Gamal family, who were detained after the violent actions of their estranged father, highlights how the immigration system can punish innocent families and children. Lee's criticism of both Democratic and Republican parties' records on immigration raises questions about the ability of the political establishment to enact meaningful reform.

The details

The El Gamal family, including a mother, two 5-year-old twins, a 9-year-old girl, a 16-year old boy and an 18-year-old girl, have been detained at the Dilley facility for nine months, despite the Flores settlement limiting child detention to 20 days. Lee says the family faces potential death if deported to Egypt, where the father was a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood. The 18-year-old daughter Habiba was recently separated from the family, which Lee believes was retaliation for her speaking out in a CBS News interview.

  • The El Gamal family was detained following a violent antisemitic attack by their estranged father, Mohamed Soliman, in Boulder, Colorado, on June 1, 2025.
  • The family has been detained at the Dilley facility for nine months as of March 2026.

The players

Eric Lee

An attorney who represents the El Gamal family detained at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley.

El Gamal family

A family of six from Colorado, including a mother, two 5-year-old twins, a 9-year-old girl, a 16-year old boy and an 18-year-old girl, who have been detained at the Dilley facility for nine months.

Mohamed Soliman

The estranged father of the El Gamal family who carried out a violent antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado in June 2025.

Barack Obama

The former U.S. President whose administration oversaw millions of deportations and the expansion of immigration enforcement powers.

Joe Biden

The current U.S. President who Lee says has been complicit in the bipartisan anti-immigration framework.

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What they’re saying

“This is a punishment not for anything that the family did but for something that somebody else did. And that is how things work in police states.”

— Eric Lee, Attorney (sacurrent.com)

“The Democratic Party today, especially its 'left' members — people like Bernie Sanders and Ocasio Cortez — they exist to channel growing social opposition back into the political establishment. They're a catchment area, a sort of lightning rod that takes this powerful movement and tries to disarm it and prevent it from developing in the direction that's really required — and that's a national general strike.”

— Eric Lee, Attorney (sacurrent.com)

The takeaway

This case highlights the need for a grassroots, working class movement to challenge the bipartisan failures on immigration and the transformation of the U.S. into a 'police-state dictatorship', rather than relying on the Democratic Party to enact meaningful reform.