Amalia, a toddler who allegedly fell ill at Dilley Immigration Processing Center in January (left); federal agents, including members of ICE, patrol the halls of a New York immigration court on July 24, 2025Credit: Courtesy of Elora Mukherjee; Spencer Platt/GettyA joint analysis published June 9 by MS NOW and The Marshall Project — using Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data and interviews with detained families — found that ICE has detained more than 500 infants and toddlers under age three since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025. The report describes parents' accounts and case records alleging crowded conditions, shortages of age-appropriate food and inadequate medical care for very young children in federal family detention facilities. Federal agents, including members of ICE, patrol the halls of immigration court at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building on July 24, 2025.Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Key Findings and Family Accounts The MS NOW/Marshall Project analysis reports an average of about 25 children under three in ICE custody on any given day since January 2025 — roughly ten times the rate reported during the final year of the Biden administration. Much of the reporting focuses on the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas, the federal facility most often used to hold families and young children. Texas State Troopers prepare to disperse a crowd protesting ICE outside an immigrant detention center for families in Dilley, Texas, on Jan. 28.Credit: Joel Angel Juarez/Getty The report includes vivid, distressing accounts from parents. A Russian refugee identified as Alsu said she and her then-1-year-old son, Amir, were detained at Dilley in 2025 and faced shortages of formula and age-appropriate foods. Alsu said she was forced to wean Amir early, had limited access to suitable solids, and at times improvised to keep him from going hungry. According to the report, Amir suffered fevers and stomach problems while detained. People protest against ICE as they march toward the South Texas Family Residential Center on Jan. 28, in Dilley, Texas.Credit: Joel Angel Juarez/Getty “Our immigration system is breaking children,” said Marsha Griffin, a pediatrics professor and co-founder of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Council on Immigrant Child and Family Health, who told MS NOW that infancy and toddlerhood are among the most vulnerable developmental stages and that detention at this age can be especially harmful. A poster of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos accompanies Ranking Member Robert Garcia, D-Calif., at a House Oversight Committee hearing on March 4.Credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Responses From Agencies and Officials ICE and the Department of Homeland Security issued an unsigned emailed statement to PEOPLE asserting that "ICE is not targeting children or separating families," and criticizing the prior administration's border policies as having produced humanitarian challenges. The agencies did not directly dispute the report's findings that child detentions have increased under the current administration or the allegations of inadequate nutrition and medical care in some facilities. Amalia, an 18-month-old child of immigrants who was later held in ICE custody and fell ill, appears in a photo provided by her family on Feb. 7.Credit: Courtesy of Elora Mukherjee Congressional action has added urgency to the debate: Republican congressional majorities this week approved a roughly $70 billion funding package that includes expanded resources for ICE and related detention and deportation operations. At an Oval Office bill signing, President Trump praised ICE and Border Patrol and said the bill provides critical resources to "defend our borders" and "protect America’s youth." Health, Legal, and Advocacy Concerns Advocates and attorneys who represent detained families report repeated complaints about access to medical care. Attorney Elora Mukherjee, who has represented more than 80 families detained at Dilley, said nearly all of her clients reported inadequate medical attention and that very young children in detention repeatedly fall ill because their immune systems are still developing. The report and related coverage also cite several specific incidents: measles cases at Dilley, a 2-month-old hospitalized with bronchitis who was later deported to Mexico in February, and a lawsuit alleging that an 18-month-old named Amalia suffered multiple severe respiratory illnesses and a high fever. DHS previously disputed that family's account and defended the care detainees receive. Separately, ICE recorded its 50th detainee death during Trump's second term on June 4: Mamuka Artmeladze, a 43-year-old Georgian immigrant who died in a Louisiana jail; ICE said an autopsy is pending to determine an official cause of death. Wider Context The MS NOW/Marshall Project analysis cites a Brookings Institution estimate that more than 205,000 children have had one or both parents detained by federal immigration authorities since January 2025, including an estimated 145,000 U.S. citizen children and more than 50,000 children under age six. Lawmakers and child health experts say those figures underscore the scale of the humanitarian and public-health questions surrounding current enforcement policies. What Comes Next The report has renewed scrutiny of U.S. immigration enforcement practices and prompted calls from pediatricians, human rights advocates and some Democratic lawmakers for alternatives to detaining infants and toddlers and for improved oversight of detention conditions. Congressional debates over funding and policy reforms are likely to continue as advocates, medical professionals and officials respond to the report's findings.Help us improve.