{"slug":"dilley-family-detention-flores-monitor-2026","title":"Children Held for Months at Dilley in Breach of Flores Limits; Judge Appoints Independent Monitor Over ICE and CBP","date":"2026-08-12","lastUpdated":"2026-08-21","description":"The South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, operated for ICE by CoreCivic and reopened in March 2025, is the nation's only family detention center. Under the Flores settlement, children generally may not be held in such facilities for more than 20 days. In August 2026 the Texas Tribune reported that more than half the children at Dilley had been held beyond 20 days, at least 60 for more than 100 days, and one family for 323 days. An estimated 1,560 minors were held beyond 20 days over a six-month period. Children described insects, moldy food, untreated medical problems and weight loss. In August 2026, U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee, citing 'serious concerns' about compliance, appointed a special master and an independent monitor with authority to make unannounced visits to Dilley and to CBP facilities in the Rio Grande Valley, El Paso and San Diego. DHS said the judge was 'trying to demonize' its personnel and that 'being in detention is a choice.'","summary":"ICE held children at its Dilley family detention center for months, far beyond the Flores settlement's 20-day standard, with an estimated 1,560 minors held past the limit in six months. A federal judge appointed an independent monitor and special master over ICE and CBP child custody. DHS responded that 'being in detention is a choice.'","category":"deportation","severity":"severe","ongoing":true,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.texastribune.org/2026/08/12/texas-immigration-ice-detention-children-dilley/","title":"Texas detention center holding kids beyond court-ordered limit","publisher":"The Texas Tribune"},{"url":"https://www.wrtv.com/news/national/judge-appoints-independent-monitors-to-examine-for-profit-ice-lockup-where-children-are-held/","title":"Judge appoints independent monitors to examine for-profit ICE lockup where children are held","publisher":"Scripps News (via WRTV)"},{"url":"https://www.fox26houston.com/news/texas-immigration-facility-oversight-children-dilley","title":"Federal judge orders outside oversight of migrant child detention at Texas facilities","publisher":"FOX 26 Houston"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["ICE","CBP","family detention","children","Flores settlement","Dilley","CoreCivic","court monitor"],"relatedEntries":["family-separations-child-detention","trump-kids-in-cages-second-term-deportations","pregnant-detainee-abuse","ice-detention-deaths"],"timeline":[{"date":"2025-03-01","title":"Dilley family detention center reopens","summary":"ICE resumes detaining families at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, operated by CoreCivic, in March 2025. It becomes the nation's only family detention center."},{"date":"2026-08-12","title":"Texas Tribune: children held far beyond court-ordered limit","summary":"The Texas Tribune reports that about 3,000 children passed through Dilley in its first year, more than half held beyond 20 days, at least 60 for more than 100 days, and one family for 323 days. Children describe insects, moldy food, staff yelling, untreated dental and medical problems and weight loss. DHS calls the Flores settlement 'a tool of the left that is antithetical to the law.'"},{"date":"2026-08-19","title":"Judge Gee appoints special master and independent monitor","summary":"Citing 'serious concerns' about compliance, Judge Dolly M. Gee appoints Andrea Sheridan Ordin as special master and Dr. Paul Wise as independent monitor over Dilley and CBP facilities in the Rio Grande Valley, El Paso and San Diego. They can make unannounced visits and will issue quarterly compliance reports."}],"location":{"name":"Dilley, Texas","lat":28.6675,"lng":-99.1706},"custom":{"posture":"active-litigation","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"Convention on the Rights of the Child (signed, not ratified by the US)","article":"Article 37(b)","provision":"Detention of a child shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time"},{"statute":"International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights","article":"Article 24 and Article 9","provision":"Measures of protection required by a child's status as a minor; freedom from arbitrary detention"}],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"Children and parents detained at Dilley, about 3,000 children in the facility's first year according to the Texas Tribune; children held beyond 72 hours in CBP border facilities (156 in March 2026 and 164 in May 2026, per Fox 26).","perpetrators":"ICE; CBP; CoreCivic (facility operator); DHS leadership, which has called the Flores settlement 'outdated' and 'judicial micromanagement.'","keyPoints":["Dilley, run by CoreCivic, held about 3,000 children in the first year after it reopened in March 2025; more than half were held longer than the Flores settlement's 20-day standard (Texas Tribune).","At least 60 children were held for more than 100 days. A 16-year-old was held for 123 days, and a mother and five children who were never charged with any crime were held for 323 days (Texas Tribune).","An estimated 1,560 minors were held longer than 20 days over a six-month period; Judge Gee noted monthly averages above 20 days for five consecutive months (Fox 26, Scripps News).","Of 64 medical grievances filed at Dilley between August 2025 and May 2026, none were resolved in the resident's favor (Fox 26).","Judge Gee appointed former US Attorney Andrea Sheridan Ordin as special master and Stanford pediatrician Dr. Paul Wise as independent monitor, with authority to make unannounced visits and to issue quarterly compliance reports (Scripps News, Fox 26).","A DHS spokesperson said the judge was 'trying to demonize' personnel and that 'being in detention is a choice' (Scripps News)."],"legalBasis":"Flores v. Reno settlement agreement, which sets a general 20-day limit on detention of children in unlicensed family facilities and 72 hours in CBP holding; CRC Article 37(b); ICCPR Articles 9 and 24.","postureNote":"Judge Dolly M. Gee (C.D. Cal.) appointed a special master and independent monitor in August 2026 with quarterly reporting. Separately, the administration is challenging the Flores settlement before the Ninth Circuit.","relatedIncidents":["family-separations-child-detention","trump-kids-in-cages-second-term-deportations","pregnant-detainee-abuse","ice-detention-deaths"]}}