NEED TO KNOW
A toddler at an ICE detention center in Texas was rushed to the hospital with respiratory failure, pneumonia and more
When 18-month-old Amalia and her parents had to return to the center, ICE officers allegedly confiscated the medication prescribed to the toddler, a lawsuit states
Amalia “nearly died” at Dilley Immigration Processing Center, a lawyer for her family said in a statement to PEOPLE
After a toddler at an ICE detention center in Texas was rushed to the hospital with respiratory failure, pneumonia and more, federal agents brought her back to the center — where she was allegedly given PediaSure in place of the medication doctors had prescribed her.
The toddler, 18-month-old Amalia, had been healthy before she and her parents were detained in El Paso in December, and later transferred to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, according to a federal lawsuit filed on Friday, Feb. 6, and obtained by PEOPLE.
Upon arrival at the center — which is the same where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was held with his father, Adrian Conejo Arias — Amalia’s health worsened quickly, the lawsuit said, and on Jan. 1, she developed a fever that peaked at 104 degrees and would not break.
Amalia struggled to breathe, was vomiting often and suffered from diarrhea, according to the lawsuit.
The toddler’s parents took her to the facility’s medical clinic multiple times, but they were only given basic fever medication, the lawsuit alleges. On Jan. 18, the 18-month-old, who was suffering from life-threateningly low oxygen levels, was rushed to a San Antonio children’s hospital, where she was diagnosed with and treated for pneumonia, COVID-19, viral bronchitis, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and severe respiratory distress.
Amalia was placed on supplemental oxygen, as her lungs struggled to recover from the illnesses, according to the lawsuit.
Amalia, the toddler who was allegedly denied medication at Dilley Immigration Processing Center
Courtesy of Elora Mukherjee
As the toddler’s mom prayed by her daughter’s hospital bed for 10 days, scared she might die, officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) supervised the pair constantly, NBC News reported, citing both the lawsuit and Elora Mukherjee, the attorney who filed the petition seeking the family of three’s release from the ICE detention center.
Amalia, Mukherjee told NBC News, “was at the brink of dying.”
Amalia, the toddler who was allegedly denied medication at Dilley Immigration Processing Center
Courtesy of Elora Mukherjee
Upon discharge, immigration officers did not allow Amalia or her mom to return to El Paso. They instead brought the mother-daughter pair back to Dilley, despite medical experts’ warnings that the 18-month-old was still medically vulnerable and at high risk of reinfection, according to the lawsuit.
Doctors had prescribed Amalia with a nebulizer and a respiratory medication, as well as nutritional supplements to regain the 10% of her body weight lost amid the medical emergency, but all were confiscated by Dilley detention center staff upon arrival, both the lawsuit and Mukherjee claim.
Upon re-entry at the immigration facility, Amalia’s parents were once again forced to wait in long lines for medicine, only to be denied the breathing medication that doctors had prescribed, the lawsuit claims. (Sometimes, they were only given PediaSure, while other times they were turned away altogether, according to NBC News.)
PEOPLE has reached out to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and CoreCivic, which runs the Texas detention center under a federal contract, for comment.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Amalia, who was allegedly denied medication by ICE officers, with her parents
Courtesy of Elora Mukherjee
Amalia and her parents remained at Dilley under the conditions for nine more days — and as two measles cases were confirmed at the center — until the family was released in the evening of Feb. 6, after the lawsuit was filed.
Along with Amalia’s nebulizer and medication, ICE officers also failed to return the toddler’s birth certificate and vaccination card, despite her parents’ requests, Mukherjee told PEOPLE.
“We are trying to get those documents back for the family,” the attorney said.
“ICE should never have detained Baby Amalia,” Mukherjee said in a statement shared with PEOPLE on Sunday, Feb. 8. “She and her parents did everything right — they entered the United States lawfully, they complied with all their immigration check-ins, they went to church every week and contributed to their community. ICE abruptly arrested and detained the family in December. In January, Baby Amalia nearly died at Dilley.”
“Hundreds of children and families remain detained and at risk at Dilley. This is unconscionable,” she continued. “The American Academy of Pediatrics and every major medical association has condemned family detention because of its harmful physical and psychological effects on children, which persist even after children are released from detention.”
Read the original article on People