An 18-month-old toddler identified as “Amalia” was returned to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody after hospitalization for life-threatening respiratory failure, and subsequently denied prescribed medications and nutritional support, according to a federal lawsuit filed in Texas. The family was released days later after lawyers filed an emergency habeas corpus petition challenging the child’s continued detention.
Amalia and her parents, originally from Venezuela, were detained on December 11, 2025 at an immigration checkpoint in El Paso. The family, which had been living in the U.S. since 2024 and intended to apply for asylum, was transferred to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in rural South Texas, where families are held together in detention.
According to the lawsuit, Amalia was healthy when detained but began developing a high, persistent fever on January 1, 2026, which reached around 104°F (40 °C). She began vomiting frequently, suffered diarrhea, and experienced difficulty breathing. Repeated visits to the detention facility’s medical clinic reportedly resulted in only basic fever medication being provided.
By January 18, Amalia’s condition had deteriorated significantly, and she was rushed to a children’s hospital in San Antonio with critically low oxygen levels. Medical professionals diagnosed her with multiple serious respiratory illnesses, including:
Pneumonia
COVID-19
Viral bronchitis
Severe respiratory distress
Doctors treated her with supplemental oxygen and supportive care during a 10-day hospital stay from January 18–28. At discharge, she was prescribed a nebulizer and respiratory medications, as well as nutritional supplements to help her regain approximately 10 % of her body weight lost during illness.
Despite medical experts warning that Amalia remained medically fragile and at high risk for decompensation, the lawsuit alleges that ICE agents returned her and her mother to the Dilley facility following hospital discharge instead of facilitating continued recovery at home. Upon return, facility staff are accused of confiscating her prescribed medications, nebulizer, and nutritional supplements. Family attorneys say the toddler was given only nutritional drinks and was denied access to her prescribed breathing treatments. Parents were reportedly required to wait for hours daily in long lines at the detention centre’s medical unit to request treatments, at times in cold weather, but often did not receive the medications doctors had ordered for her recovery.
Legal filings state that the family continued to be housed in ICE custody for nine additional days while Amalia’s prescribed treatments were withheld, even as a measles outbreak circulated within the facility.
On February 6, 2026, attorneys filed a federal habeas corpus petition for Amalia and her parents. Shortly after the filing, all three were released from ICE custody. However, the lawsuit alleges that Amalia’s medications, nebulizer, nutritional supplements, birth certificate, and vaccination card were not returned when the family was freed, prompting ongoing efforts by legal counsel to recover these items.
Elora Mukherjee, a Columbia Law School professor who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the family, said in court filings that Amalia “was at the brink of dying” and should not have been returned to detention while still medically vulnerable.
Respiratory distress and pneumonia in young children can cause hypoxia and long-term respiratory issues if not adequately managed; prescribed nebulized treatments (e.g., albuterol) are frequently used to help open airways and support lung function post-infection.
(Rh)
