ICE staff at Dilley detention center read from D.C.-dictated scripts and barred direct answers during congressional oversight visit

On April 8, 2026, Representatives Joaquin Castro and Greg Casar conducted an oversight visit to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Dilley, Texas, a family immigration detention facility operated by ICE. Upon arrival, the lawmakers found that ICE staff were reading from scripts that ICE leadership in Washington, D.C. had directed them to read. Staff were barred from answering the congressmen's questions directly; all inquiries had to be submitted in writing and forwarded to Washington for response. ICE also deployed D.C.-based monitors to observe the visit throughout. Castro described the procedures as having a "creepiness" to them.

The new restrictions followed the removal of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and her replacement by Acting Secretary Markwayne Mullin. Castro characterized the shift as "the same cruelty, but there's more secrecy now," noting that staff read from "scripts of propaganda" in each room of the facility. The congressional delegation also observed worsening conditions during the visit: inadequate dental and medical care for children, detainees with legal immigration status including temporary protected status holders and legal permanent residents, and insufficient certified teachers in the facility's school program.

The facility's population had surged to 339 detainees, including 77 children, up from approximately 100 in March 2026. Casar called for the release of all detained children, citing the Trump administration's detention of approximately 6,200 minors nationwide. This entry is distinct from prior Dilley archive entries concerning unlawful detention, corrections abuse, defying court orders, deaths in custody, and denial of due process; it records the obstruction of the congressional oversight visit itself — scripted, D.C.-controlled responses and deployed monitors — as a direct consequence of the post-Noem DHS leadership transition.