U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter said she was denied entry into the Texas detention center where a 7-year-old Gresham girl and her parents have been held for over two weeks.
The family, originally from Venezuela, was detained in front of the Adventist Health emergency department in Portland on Jan. 16 as the parents sought emergency medical care for their daughter’s prolonged nosebleed.
Thursday marks the 21st day of their detention. That’s despite a decades-old federal policy stemming from a court settlement that limits the immigration detention of children to no more than 20 days.
Dexter, a Democrat who represents most of the Portland area including Gresham, traveled to Texas on Thursday morning from Washington D.C., to check on the family’s welfare and said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities told her Thursday afternoon that she could not enter the family detention facility because she did not give them a seven-day notice. Dexter told The Oregonian/OregonLive she notified the facility of her visit more than a week ago.
The Dilley Immigration Processing Center near San Antonio, Texas, has been under lockdown due to a measles outbreak, with a quarantine and all movement halted at the facility since Saturday.
Dexter, who is a physician, said she’s doubly vaccinated for the disease within the last 15 years and would take all precautions while visiting the center. As a sitting U.S. representative, she has legal authority to enter Dilley to check on conditions and speak with detained constituents.
She said a center supervisor told her that the measles outbreak is no longer a threat – there’s been no new active cases and the facility is vaccinating as many people as will accept it.
Darianny Liseth Gonzalez de Crespo, husband Yohendry De Jesus Crespo and their daughter Diana have been held at a detention center in Texas for more than two weeks. The family entered the U.S. legally and has a pending asylum case.photo courtesy of Ana Linares
“We followed all their rules. This just feels like bureaucracy and red tape,” Dexter said. “Maybe they want to keep us from coming in because of the conditions at the facility they don’t want people to know about.”
Dexter said holding the Oregon 7-year-old and other children there is “morally bankrupt,” especially during a measles outbreak.
“I am accountable for oversight, I gave all notice and we’re coming back tomorrow. I’m not going to be deterred,” she said.
The Gresham family – father Yohendry De Jesus Crespo, mother Darianny Liseth Gonzalez de Crespo and their daughter, Diana – entered the U.S. legally and have a pending asylum petition, according to Ana Linares, a close friend in Portland who is also from Venezuela. The two families met in the Panamanian jungle, crossed multiple countries overland and entered the U.S. together in 2024 via pre‑scheduled appointment at an official port of entry, Linares said.
Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., Dexter is part of a group of legislators in Oregon and outside the state who are pushing for the family’s release. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag
The Crespo-Gonzalez family is now being held at the same detention facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos of Minnesota was detained with his father, both originally from Ecuador. The boy’s viral bunny‑hat photo drew national attention after he was swept up.
The two cases appear similar – the boy and his father also had applied for asylum. But the child and his father were released last Saturday within 12 days of being detained while the Gresham family is still waiting for a resolution.
In such cases, lawyers typically file a habeas corpus petition, which asks a court to review whether a detention is lawful and to order the person’s release if not. As of Thursday afternoon, no court petition or legal filing had been submitted on the Gresham family’s behalf.
Natalie Lerner, an attorney with Innovation Law Lab who represents them, didn’t respond to questions about their legal case.
Dexter is part of a group of legislators in Oregon and outside the state who are pushing for the family’s release. Her staff has repeatedly requested medical attention and wellness checks for the 7-year-old at Dilley, advocated for the Gresham family’s due process and made phone calls to top immigration officials to speak about the case.
Dexter was instrumental last year in securing the release of a Honduran mother and her four U.S. citizen children. The mother, whom Dexter visited at an ICE facility near Ferndale, Washington, had lived in Portland for over two decades and was detained with her children at a park on the U.S.-Cananda border.
Last week before the measles outbreak, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, visited the Dilley site to check on Liam Conejo and his father. He also tried to visit the Crespo-Gonzalez family but was not allowed to see them, Dexter’s office said.
Castro told reporters more than 1,100 people were being held at Dilley — some as long as eight months — and none had a criminal record.
Dexter said she will try to visit the Crespo-Gonzalez family at Dilley again on Friday. She and Castro are also planning to visit an adult detention facility 10 miles from Dilley.
Dexter said she will do everything she can to bring the family back to Oregon.
“Diana and her parents should be home. They’re not criminals, they have an active asylum case. We have tickets to bring them home and I have every intention of bringing them home tomorrow,” Dexter said.