The Latest At Dilley
As the population at Dilley dwindles, other detainment centers around the country remain crowded. And deaths have followed suit. As of May 1, ICE has officially reported 18 detention deaths.
On Tuesday, May 5, seven House Democrats inspected the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas. The delegation, led by Representative Joaquin Castro, called for the closure of the 2,400-bed facility, where an estimated 396 people, including nearly 100 children, are housed.
Joining Castro were Sylvia Garcia and Christian Menefee, both of Houston, Henry Cuellar, who represents portions of South Texas, and Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ), Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and Mark Takano (D-CA).
During his inspection, Castro spent about 20 minutes with Maria Betania Uzcategui-Castillo and her stepchildren Victor Jr., 11, and Monseratt, 8, who were arrested by ICE agents at a bus stop in San Antonio on April 27. The family migrated from Venezuela in December 2021, applied for asylum, and held work permits. On Wednesday, May 13 the family was released and returned to San Antonio.
At a press conference following the tour, Castro described what he saw inside. “The kids, as you can imagine, were distraught. They were sobbing most of the time that we were with them,” he said. He told reporters the inspection was “one horror after another and one abuse after another.”
The facility is a “baby jail,” said Garcia. “There is nothing humane about Dilley.”
Takano, whose parents spent their early childhood in Japanese American internment camps, said: “I believe that this is a shameful moment in our country’s history.”
Detainees, Deaths, and Population
Through insight from the Deportation Data Project, it's possible to analyze how many detainees the facility held on a daily basis. On January 1, the detained population at Dilley stood at 445. But then it dropped sharply in the weeks that followed, likely due to transfers or other processing actions.
As the population at Dilley dwindles, other detainment centers around the country remain crowded. And deaths have followed suit. As of May 1, ICE has officially reported 18 detention deaths. Last year, 2025, ICE reported the highest annual figure of deaths in detention facilities at 32 in nearly twenty years.
CoreCivic’s Financials
The company that runs Dilley Detention Center, CoreCivic, recently reported its first quarter financial results. On May 6, the day after the congressional inspection of Dilley, the President and Chief Executive Officer Patrick Swindle touted the company’s “strong financial performance.” Over the first three months of 2026, the company had a total revenue over 614 million.
Rebuffing calls for further oversight, CoreCivic responded to public criticism through a statement titled “Setting the Record Straight.” Dilley, according to the statement is “subject to multiple layers of oversight” and that ICE conducted “over 230 audits and inspections” across CoreCivic facilities in 2025.
What Comes Next
A Human Rights First and RAICES report released April 1 calls for the closure of Dilley and federal legislation prohibiting family detention. The report documents that some families have been held up to six months.
Castro said he intends to keep returning. “When we look back at this era in American history, we will look back in shame,” he told reporters May 5.
Menefee agreed.
“This will not be my last visit.”
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