MARCH FOR PEACE AND JUST LAWS
Faith and community leaders join the March for Peace and Just Laws for Our Immigrant Community
Faith and community leaders participated in a four-day “March for Peace and Just Laws for Our Immigrant Community,” from Feb. 25 – Feb. 28, from Dilley Detention Facility in Dilley, Texas to the San Antonio Immigration Court. The 90-mile march was spearheaded by Dianne Garcia, the pastor of Iglesia Cristiana Roca de Refugio in San Antonio, which is one of IW
C’s collaborating partners.
The march protested the detention of children and the separation of families at the Dilley Detention Facility, also known as the South Texas Family Residential Center. The facility is estimated to have held more than 1,750 children in detention since its opening, as reported by PBS. Detainees have reported insufficient medical care, unsanitary food preparation, a lack of educational programming, and a shortage of water, among other health and treatment concerns. Further, many children are being held more than 20 days, the standard set in 1997 by the Flores Settlement Agreement.
Many IWC members participated in the concluding 9-mile San Antonio section of the march, which ran from the Migrant Memorial Site on Quintana Road – where 53 migrants died in 2022 after being trapped inside a sweltering tractor-trailer – to the Immigration Courthouse.
HISTORIC BACKGROUND
Artwork by a 9-year-old in detention with her parents and younger sister. Courtesy of ProPublica.
While immigrant rights groups, such as IWC, have been aware of the situation for some time, the plight of children detained at Dilley largely became national news in January 2026, when Liam Ramos, 5, was taken by federal agents alongside his father, Adrian Ramos, as he returned home from preschool in Minnesota. Both were in the US legally awaiting the outcome of their asylum cases. They were detained at Dilley for 11 days before pressure by politicians and community groups forced their release.
After Liam, news came of Juan Nicolás, a 2-month-old detainee who developed bronchitis, an 18-month-old girl who allegedly was denied medicine, and at least two children who developed measles. Then reports surfaced that emergency crews have been dispatched to Dilley nearly a dozen times over the last six months for everything from broken bones to severe fever and respiratory distress.
And there are psychological concerns. Before she arrived at Dilley, Kelly Vargas said, her 6-year-old daughter was well-adjusted, thriving, loved school, drawing and playing with her cat. Within days of being in Dilley, her daughter began to unravel. She started wetting her pants and crying through the night. She even begged to start breastfeeding again.
In February 2026, three pediatricians penned a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) calling for the immediate release of all children in immigration detention. The letter was signed by more than 3,900 medical professionals from 49 states.
“It’s not just child detention. This is child imprisonment in substandard living conditions. They are knowingly exposing them to potentially deadly infectious diseases,” said Dr. Anita K. Patel.
DHS has disputed the allegations of mistreatment, but to Pastor Garcia that isn’t the point.
“Even if they made it a palace, it’s still detention and no child should ever have to be detained,” she said.
CHILDREN’S VOICES
Artwork from a 5-year-old detainee
In January, ProPublica requested and received letters and artwork from several children at Dilley. All children’s texts and images below were all taken from the letters collected by ProPublica.
I am 14 years old and I’m from Honduras. I’ve been detained for 45 days and I have never felt so much fear to go to a place as I feel here…My younger siblings haven’t been able to see my mom for more than a month…Since I go to this center all you feel is sadness and mostly depression.
I’m from Venezuela. I have been living in the United States for three years. I am 7-years-old. I have been here for 70 days in this place.
I am 14-years-old from Columbia. I have been detained in Dilley Immigration Processing Center for 20 days…I haven’t felt happy since I got here.
“We are all stuck in rooms that can hold people. They won‘t let us go out to the playground and park and it’s very boring to do every day. God touch the hearts to those at ICE let us out. We are not criminals. I want to go home.
I’m writing this letter so that you can hear my story. I need you to help us. I have been detained for 23 days with my mom and my 3-year-old sister. I cry a lot. I want to get out of here go back to my school. They don’t treat us well here. There are many children. We are kidnapped. Help! (written by a 7-year-old)
I am 113 days in detention. I miss my friends and I feel they are going to forget me. (written by a 9-year-old)
Top Image: Created by a 13-year-old who misses the outdoors
Bottom Image: Created by a 5-year-old who misses his friends, family and cat.
