Inside Texas's ICE detention system: fear and separated families

Migrant arrests in the United States have surged since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025. In under two years, more than 610,000 people have passed through detention facilities run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), with the pace still accelerating — nearly 51,000 arrests were recorded in August 2026 alone, a monthly record for Trump's second term.

France 24 correspondents Valérie Defert and Pierrick Laurent spent several weeks investigating the system in Texas, where much of the country's detention infrastructure is concentrated. Their reporting took them to Dilley, south of San Antonio, home to the largest family detention centre in the US, with capacity for up to 2,400 parents and children. ICE does not allow journalists inside the facility itself.

Children and separated families

Since Trump's return to power, more than 6,200 minors have been detained, including at least 500 infants and children aged three or younger. The reporters spoke with a Venezuelan family whose mother, Maria Betania, and her two children were detained while walking to a school bus stop; they spent 17 days at Dilley before a federal judge ordered their release.

In San Antonio, a pastor who meets weekly with detainees' relatives estimates that roughly one in four families in her congregation has had a member arrested and deported. Among the detained is Jefferson, a Venezuelan asylum seeker and father of two, held at the Don Hutto facility, who described months of separation from his family and criticised poor conditions and limited access to healthcare.

Rising deaths and profits for private operators

Deaths in ICE custody have risen sharply, with at least 57 recorded since Trump returned to office. Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights say the mortality rate had already more than doubled within the first 500 days of his second term.

The expanding detention system has also become a lucrative business for private operators: maintaining Dilley's 2,400-person capacity costs an estimated $13.1 million per month under contract. Washington has earmarked $45 billion to further expand detention capacity through 2029.