I’ve been trying to come up with the words to describe what I experienced in Dilley and San Antonio, TX with Representative Castro, and the Democratic Women’s Caucus Members: Representatives Pressley, Ansari, Fletcher, and Rivas, and FWD.us. The first thought that came to mind was: there is no frickin’ way I’m going to fit every thought, every story, every moment, into one Substack post.
So, I am going to spare you from the multi-page essay that I subjected you to last week. Instead, you’re getting several shorter essays about this visit, because I like you guys, and I kind of want you to like me too.
Also, I know most influencers do the whole “how did I get here” thing, but I’ve given you all bits and pieces before, and I am happy to tell you more in the near future. Today, I want to focus on the children because there are children in need. There are children who are at risk, and there are more children who will continue to be harmed every day if this country does not act now.
Today, the most impactful and relevant prose I can share is the speech I gave in San Antonio and the press conference to advocate for the closure of the Dilley trailer prison and an end to all child detention.
“Honored to stand among these congressional leaders and activists. And of course, I will be endlessly thankful to Representative Joaquin Castro and his team, and the FWD.us team, for bringing us together. I am also incredibly honored to stand among the Democratic Women’s Caucus today.
But I am not here as a politician or an activist. I am here as a doctor. I am a double board-certified pediatrician and pediatric critical care doctor. My job is to recognize threats to children’s health and to treat children when they’re critically ill. I am here today to warn of both an ongoing and imminent crisis.
Just two hours down the road, we know unequivocally that children who are detained are experiencing severe, predictable, and lasting harm. Moreover, it is causing the same trauma to the children whose parents are locked up. And I am here to share their stories today.
Representative Pressley mentioned a mother, Vanessa, who was detained — and because she was detained, her two children, ages three and five, the same ages as my own children, are now being housed with someone with a documented domestic violence history. As a pediatrician, I can tell you: we would not send those children into those conditions. Yet our government is doing so every single day.
I want to go through three documented harms that our children are experiencing right now.
First, detention itself harms children. The evidence is unequivocal. Children suffer post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, developmental regression, and suicidal thoughts. But these are not just diagnoses — these are cruel harms inflicted upon children. Children like Liam Ramos, who is exhibiting signs of post-traumatic stress to this day. Five-year-old Alexander, who was found in his cell with his mother’s pants cord wrapped around his neck because he did not want to be in detention anymore. And nine-year-old Kenek, a beautiful child with autism whose autism became so severely exacerbated that he was not allowed to go outside anymore. Their answer to his behavioral struggles was to lock him up further.
Second, the conditions make it worse. Lights on 24/7. Inadequate bedding, inadequate food, and inadequate water. And I might add, these all represent child abuse, and they also represent human rights violations — violations as defined by the United Nations.
Third, the harm doesn’t end at release. Decades of research show that toxic stress in childhood carries lifelong harm. And this not only includes mental illness — it also includes immune dysfunction and shortened life expectancy. These harms are going to stay with these children for the rest of their lives.
And as a pediatrician, this is the point that needs to come across: we are not just harming the children inside detention. There is also excellent data to show that we are actually traumatizing this entire generation of children. My own daughter is in a DC public school. She has had friends and family members taken just outside that school. These children will not be the same if we do not end this now.
And to underscore what is at stake, I would like to conclude by naming the seven children who died in or soon after they were in immigration custody. Each of these names is a dark stain on our country’s conscience:
Jakelin Caal Maquin
Felipe Gómez Alonzo
Juan de León Gutiérrez
Carlos Gregorio Hernández Vásquez
Wilmer Josué Ramírez Vásquez
Mariee Juárez
Darlyn Cristabel Cordova-Valle
I want you to keep those names not only in your hearts, but in your voices, because more children will die if we don’t act now. They will. And I am calling not only upon every single citizen, but upon every single physician, because these are well-documented harms, and we are allowing them to happen with our tax dollars.
And I want to say just one more thing: your vote is your ICE whistle, and we all need to blow it. Thank you.”
ACTIONS
I need all of YOU to blow your ICE whistle right now. Call your reps and senators and say this (or use your own words, because I KNOW they are beautiful and impactful too).
Call (202) 224-3121 for the Capitol Switchboard:
“I’m [NAME], a constituent from [ZIP]. Child detention is child abuse, and is causing predictable, severe, and long-term harm to these children. I’m calling on [Rep./Sen. NAME] to demand every child’s release from immigration detention, now, and an end to all child detention in this country. Thank you.”
Donate to the @eachstephome Dilley fund — helping families buy overpriced food from the commissary: eachstephome.org/commissary
Donate to FWD.us, who organized the press conference and helped support my flight to Dilley for this day of incredible action. This was not my first time working with them, though! FWD.us also helped Ms. Rachel and me deliver 500+ letters to every single representative at the Capitol at a moment’s notice. This nonprofit is the real deal, and they have all of my support: https://www.fwd.us/action/donate/
Thanks for reading The State of Pediatrics! This post is public so feel free to share it.
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