Toddler detained by ICE returned to custody after hospitalisation and denied medication: Lawsuit  

NEW YORK – An 18-month-old girl detained for weeks by US immigration authorities was returned to custody and denied medication after being hospitalised with a life-threatening respiratory illness, according to a lawsuit filed in Texas federal court.

The child, identified in the lawsuit as Amalia, was released by immigration authorities in President Donald Trump’s administration after her parents sued on Feb 6. The parents, who also had been detained, were released as well. The suit had sought the release of all three of them.

The family was detained during a check-in with immigration authorities on Dec 11 and held at a facility in Dilley, Texas, according to the lawsuit. Amalia was hospitalised from Jan 18 to 28, and returned to the Dilley facility in the midst of a measles outbreak, the lawsuit said.

“Baby Amalia should never have been detained. She nearly died at Dilley,” said Ms Elora Mukherjee, an attorney for the family.

Ms Mukherjee said hundreds of children and families detained at Dilley lack sufficient drinking water, healthy food, educational opportunities and proper medical care, and should be released.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.

NBC News first reported on the lawsuit.

Mr Trump’s administration has been accused of heavy-handed and inhumane tactics as well as violating court orders while carrying out his mass deportation programme.

A federal judge in Michigan criticised the administration in a Jan 31 ruling ordering the release of a five-year-old boy – seen in a viral photo wearing a blue bunny hat outside his house as federal agents stood nearby – who was detained by immigration agents in Minnesota.

The administration is now seeking to deport the boy.

Amalia’s parents, originally from Venezuela, have lived in the United States since 2024 with their daughter, who is a Mexican citizen, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit says all three intend to file asylum applications in the US.

Amalia developed a fever on Jan 1 that reached as high as 40 deg C, started vomiting frequently and struggled to breathe, according to the lawsuit.

She was taken to hospital on Jan 18 with extremely low oxygen saturation levels and diagnosed with Covid-19, respiratory syncytial virus, viral bronchitis and pneumonia, according to the lawsuit. She was placed on supplemental oxygen.

She was given a nebuliser and a respiratory medication upon her discharge from the hospital, but these were taken away by detention centre staff upon her return, according to the lawsuit.

The girl has lost 10 per cent of her body weight and was given nutritional drinks to help her regain it, but these were also confiscated by the authorities, according to the lawsuit. REUTERS