A toddler at an ICE detention center in Texas was rushed to the hospital with respiratory failure, pneumonia and more<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Amalia “nearly died” at Dilley Immigration Processing Center, a lawyer for her family said in a statement to PEOPLE<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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 \u2014 where she was allegedly given PediaSure in place of the medication doctors had prescribed her.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Upon arrival at the center \u2014 which is the same where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos<\/a> was held with his father, Adrian Conejo Arias<\/a> \u2014 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.<\/p>\n Amalia struggled to breathe, was vomiting often and suffered from diarrhea, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n The toddler’s parents took her to the facility\u2019s 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\u2019s hospital, where she was diagnosed with and treated for pneumonia, COVID-19, viral bronchitis, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and severe respiratory distress.<\/p>\n Amalia was placed on supplemental oxygen, as her lungs struggled to recover from the illnesses, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n Courtesy of Elora Mukherjee<\/p>\n As the toddler\u2019s mom prayed by her daughter\u2019s hospital bed for 10 days, scared she might die, officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) supervised the pair constantly, NBC News<\/a> reported, citing both the lawsuit and Elora Mukherjee, the attorney who filed the petition seeking the family of three\u2019s release from the ICE detention center.<\/p>\n Amalia, Mukherjee told NBC News, “was at the brink of dying.”<\/p>\n Courtesy of Elora Mukherjee<\/p>\n 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\u2019 warnings that the 18-month-old was still medically vulnerable and at high risk of reinfection, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.)<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n Courtesy of Elora Mukherjee<\/p>\n![\"Amalia,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/178f0aa3abc03ec87e637429fab97039.jpeg\"\/)
Amalia, the toddler who was allegedly denied medication at Dilley Immigration Processing Center <\/p>\n![\"Amalia,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/8df758d2a4befa18d58e1c239bb9c463.jpeg\"\/)
Amalia, the toddler who was allegedly denied medication at Dilley Immigration Processing Center <\/p>\n![\"Amalia,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/3971e6206784e89695593f4c9391855d.jpeg\"\/)
Amalia, who was allegedly denied medication by ICE officers, with her parents <\/p>\n