Seriously ill toddler denied life-saving care in ICE custody, lawsuit claims

The child, identified as Amalia in the legal challenge, was detained by ICE officers along with her parents Kheilin Valero Marcano and Stiven Arrieta Prieto on December 11 as part of Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.

Amalia was taken to a holding facility in Dilley, Texas, where she reportedly developed a fever of 40C (104F) on New Year's Day.

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She also started vomiting, suffered diarrhoea, and struggled to breathe, the lawsuit alleges.

Her parents were allegedly only given basic fever medication, despite taking their young one to the facility's medical clinic eight or nine times.

The case claims Amalia was barely getting enough oxygen by mid-January and her blood oxygen levels plummeted to life-threatening lows.

It was at this point she was taken to Methodist Children's Hospital in San Antonio under the supervision of ICE agents, the suit says.

Her father was told to stay behind and was unable to communicate with his wife and daughter.

Amalia was diagnosed with COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus, viral bronchitis, and pneumonia, and placed on supplemental oxygen, the lawsuit claims.

After 10 days in hospital, the child was reportedly returned to the Dilley Facility in the midst of a measles outbreak.

Doctors gave her a nebulizer, respiratory medication, and nutritional drinks, which were all seized at the detention centre, the case claims.

According to the suit, the family was forced to queue in the cold for medication and wait for hours every day in what's been called a "pill line".

But when they reached the front, they were denied the treatment that doctors had prescribed.

The legal challenge describes how one medical expert who reviewed Amalia's case warned the child faced a "high risk for medical decompensation and death" and was one of many who cautioned against returning her to custody.

Amelia's family was only released on Friday, after an emergency challenge was filed by Elora Mukherjee, who said said ICE still had not handed over the toddler's prescriptions and birth certificate.

The professor at Columbia Law School, who leads its Immigrants' Rights Clinic, said: "Baby Amalia should never have been detained. She nearly died at Dilley."

Amalia's parents entered the US in 2024 after fleeing political persecution in their native Venezuela.

They applied for asylum for themselves and their daughter, who was born in Mexico on the journey north.

According to the lawsuit, they complied with all requirements, and were detained while checking in with immigration authorities.

The mother, father and child were taken to Dilley, more than 500 miles from where they had been living.

Ms Mukherjee called for the release of the hundreds of children and families detained there.

She warned that they lacked sufficient drinking water, healthy food, education, or proper medical care.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has yet to comment.