A Univision reporter refused to lose track of two-month-old Juan Nicolás after the infant, who had been held at ICE’s family detention center in Dilley and rushed to a hospital with bronchitis, was deported with his parents and a toddler sibling to Mexico. Lidia Terrazas, a national correspondent for N+ Univision, ultimately found the family across the border, shared a photo and wrote, “I've found you, baby boy.”
The baby had spent roughly three weeks at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley. His mother says his breathing problems worsened there until he went unresponsive, at which point he was rushed to a local hospital and discharged only a few hours later, according to reporting by San Antonio Current. Lawmakers and advocates raised alarms that on-site medical staff were reportedly unavailable during overnight hours at the facility.
On Tuesday, the family was deported to Piedras Negras, Mexico. Rep. Joaquín Castro said they were “abandoned” at the border and that ICE left them with only the money remaining in their commissary account, about $190. “To unnecessarily deport a sick baby and his entire family is heinous,” Castro wrote, and his office said it would press federal officials for answers, as reported by San Antonio Current.
How a reporter found the family
Terrazas had been covering families held in Dilley for months, using live social media updates and on-the-ground reporting to follow what happened after Juan Nicolás left the hospital. She eventually caught up with the family at a hotel in Piedras Negras and posted a photo with the caption “I've found you, baby boy,” according to MySA. She later accompanied the family as they traveled toward the father’s village in Guatemala and documented the journey for N+ Univision.
Policy questions
The case has revived scrutiny of ICE policy. A 2021 ICE directive says nursing infants and their mothers up to one year postpartum should not be detained, a standard critics point to when infants are held inside Dilley. The directive is available on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s public guidance page. Advocates and reporters say the incident highlights broader concerns at Dilley since the facility’s reopening last year, including complaints about sanitation and medical staffing, according to coverage by El País.
Mexican municipal officials arranged for a doctor to examine Juan Nicolás in Piedras Negras and prescribed medication, and the family says it plans to continue on to Guatemala once the baby stabilizes, according to N+ Univision. Terrazas has said she hopes the coverage will draw attention to families still in Dilley, while Rep. Castro and immigrant advocates press federal agencies for more transparency about how these cases are handled.
