CoreCivic held ~1,500 Dilley detainees, many children, in what detainees described as putrid water and bug-contaminated food, sparking mass protest

On Saturday, January 24, 2026, a mass protest broke out inside CoreCivic's South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, a family immigration detention facility operated under federal contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Immigration attorney Eric Lee, at the facility for a confidential client visit, said guards abruptly ordered everyone in the waiting area to leave, citing "an incident," and he then heard what sounded like hundreds of children chanting "Libertad" ("Freedom") and "let us out" as they streamed into open areas of the facility. Detainees later told Lee that roughly 80% of the facility's population -- an estimated 1,500 of the roughly 1,500-1,900 people held there, many of them children -- joined the demonstration, and that guards physically blocked others from participating. The Frio County Sheriff's office confirmed deputies were called to the facility just before 1 p.m., and said Texas Department of Public Safety and Border Patrol officers also responded; the protest lasted about 30 minutes.

Lee said detainees described the protest as triggered by news that a five-year-old boy, Liam Conejo Ramos, had been taken into custody in Minnesota days earlier and transferred to Dilley, compounded by long-standing conditions inside the facility. Lee, who characterized the site as "a horrible, horrible place" not operating as ordinary civil detention, said drinking water was "putrid" and often undrinkable, and that meals had contained "bugs," dirt, and debris. He said the guard presence was as severe as at adult correctional facilities.

KSAT Investigates had previously reported on a lawsuit alleging inhumane conditions at the Dilley facility, including problems with food, water, and medical care, and immigration attorneys with clients there told KSAT this week that conditions had not changed. U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said he had been blocked from inspecting the facility the prior week but had met with recently released detainees who described inhumane conditions; Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), whose district includes Dilley, said he had personally toured the "state-of-the-art" facility and defended ICE and CBP personnel. CoreCivic has previously said the facility provides an "open and safe environment" with recreation, counseling, and legal-resource access. DHS did not respond to KSAT's repeated requests for comment on the protest or the conditions allegations, and ICE did not respond to TPR's similar request.