The audio of 911 calls from the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas paints a stark picture: calm, clinical dispatches describing children who are burning with fever, struggling to breathe, lethargic or seizing. “Frio County 911. What is your emergency?” asks the dispatcher on one recording. “I’m calling from the Dilley immigration center in Dilley, Texas. I’m calling for a little kid going through respiratory distress,” replies a staff member. Medical personnel at the remote facility — which houses hundreds of immigrant families — relay symptoms, ages and vital signs as they request ambulances. In recordings and corresponding EMS logs obtained by NBC News, staff report cases that include a 22-month-old in respiratory distress for whom responders considered an airlift, children with oxygen saturations near 80 percent, a 6-year-old with severe respiratory symptoms, and a child experiencing three seizures in a single day. The Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Dilley, Texas, in January. Since mid-September, emergency crews have been dispatched to Dilley at least 11 times to treat children in medical distress. (Brenda Bazán)(Brenda Bazán) Dispatches and hospital transfers Since mid-September, emergency crews were dispatched to Dilley at least 11 times, according to the logs and call audio. Most children were taken to a nearby community hospital; in at least three instances, children were transferred to a specialized pediatric hospital in San Antonio for higher-level care. The dispatch records do not uniformly track outcomes after ambulance transport. In one additional incident reported separately, a 2-month-old named Juan Nicolás was taken to hospital after his mother said he choked on his own vomit; the family was later deported to Mexico. In another case, parents refused ambulance transport for a toddler with low oxygen. Detainees have complained of contaminated food and inadequate medical care at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center. (Ilana Panich-Linsman / The New York Times via Redux)(Ilana Panich-Linsman) Physicians' concerns Pediatricians who reviewed the calls say the incidents point to possible missed opportunities for earlier intervention and to structural problems in caring for children in detention. Dr. Lara Jones, a pediatric critical care physician in California, said detention itself is harmful for children and that many of the emergency calls may reflect failures to identify and treat worsening illness before it becomes critical. “There is absolutely, unequivocally no appropriate way to detain a child, period,” Dr. Jones said, citing studies linking detention to measurable physical and mental harm. Dr. Ashley Cozzo, a pediatrician and neonatologist, told NBC News the repeated emergency dispatches mirror a pattern: conditions that can spread in congregate settings (like RSV, Covid‑19 and measles) and delays in escalation of care once children become ill. Jones and Cozzo were among physicians who sent a letter this week to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and congressional leaders urging the release of all children held at Dilley. An American flag is left on the ground following a protest this month outside the Dilley Immigration Processing Center. (Kaylee Greenlee / Reuters)(Kaylee Greenlee) Family accounts Families at Dilley describe obstacles to timely medical care. Kheilin Valero Marcano said her 17‑month‑old daughter, Amalia, experienced a steady decline in breathing and was eventually taken by ambulance to Methodist Children’s Hospital in San Antonio, where doctors treated her for pneumonia, Covid‑19, RSV and respiratory distress. The family alleges a Dilley policy that required detainees to queue outdoors multiple times a day to receive medications delayed care; facility operators dispute that claim. According to family accounts and a habeas corpus petition, after Amalia returned to Dilley she was initially denied the nebulizer prescribed at the hospital; DHS denied the allegation and said she “immediately received proper medical care.” CoreCivic, which operates Dilley under federal contract, said no child has been denied treatment and described 911 calls as a clinical precaution when conditions exceed on-site capabilities. Stiven Arrieta Prieto and Kheilin Valero Marcano entered the U.S. in 2024 with their baby, Amalia. They sought asylum after fleeing Venezuela, saying they were persecuted for opposing President Nicolás Maduro. (NBC News)(NBC News) Responses from authorities CoreCivic spokesman Ryan Gustin told NBC News that staff are trained to call 911 when a child needs care beyond what can be provided on-site and that no child has been denied medical assessment. The Department of Homeland Security did not answer specific questions about the calls but issued a statement this week seeking to “correct the record,” calling some media accounts inaccurate and asserting the facility provides for detainees’ medical needs. What remains unclear The emergency logs and audio document acute events and ambulance transports but do not consistently record follow-up outcomes for many children once they leave the facility or the hospitals where they were treated. Advocates and pediatricians argue the recorded calls, family testimony and documented transfers together indicate an urgent need to reassess the practice of detaining children in secure, congregate settings. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com. The reporting includes review of EMS and 911 records, interviews with families, medical experts and responses from CoreCivic and DHS.Help us improve.