[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 72 (Thursday, April 23, 2026)]
[House]
[Page H3079]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1050
                      EMOTIONAL DAMAGE DONE BY ICE

  (Ms. SALINAS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SALINAS. Mr. Speaker, Amalia, an 18-month-old, was sent to Dilley 
Detention Facility where she began to fall ill. Her parents waited in 
the health clinic line eight separate times, begging for little 
Amalia's life.
  It wasn't until Amalia's blood oxygen levels were low enough to kill 
off part of her tiny brain that ICE took her concerns seriously. Amalia 
was admitted to the ICU where she was diagnosed with COVID-19, 
pneumonia, RSV, and was in severe respiratory distress.
  As a mother, I know that even just one of these diagnoses can be a 
death sentence for a toddler, and this story is far from unique.
  Children as young as 2 months old are being held at Dilley for more 
than 40 days, which is double the legal limit, under nightmarish 
conditions: worm-infested food, unsanitary drinking water, and mothers 
being separated from their children, all while being screamed at by 
agents. In any other setting, we would call this out for what it is: 
child abuse.
  While detained babies sit on lawyers' laps to represent themselves in 
court, Trump is spending billions of dollars on ICE, which could be 
used to improve the lives of hardworking families who are just trying 
to provide stable homes for their children.
  Mr. Speaker, Trump can stop this chaos now, but the emotional damage 
is done. The fear, instability, and trauma these children have 
experienced will never disappear. It will linger for generations.

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