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A month after Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by an immigration officer in Minneapolis, her partner spoke out on Saturday, condemning the federal government's immigration crackdown that took Good's life and urging the city to remember those whose names are never known.

In a rare statement issued through her attorney, Becca Good thanked the city and said she was "so proud to call Minneapolis my home."

She also criticized the federal government's immigration enforcement operation in the Twin Cities, during which federal law enforcementkilled her partnerand ICU nurseAlex Pretti, 37.

"Renee was not the first person killed, and she was not the last," she said. "You know my wife's name and you know Alex's name, but there are many others in this city being harmed that you don't know — their families are hurting just like mine, even if they don't look like mine."

"They are neighbors, friends, coworkers, classmates. And we must also know their names," she added. "Because this shouldn't happen to anyone."

Becca Good has seldom spoken publicly since her partner's killing on Jan. 7.

The killing occurred about a month after the Trump administration surged 3,000 immigration agents to the Twin Cities in what officials have dubbed Operation Metro Surge. Agents descended on Minnesota after right-wing influencers renewed scrutiny in a state fraud scandal involving Somali nationals.

More than 4,000 undocumented immigrants have been apprehended since the operation began in December,according to the Department of Homeland Security.

The operation, which has led to the apprehensions of some children, has sparked near-daily protests in the Twin Cities. It has alsotransformed the daily livesof many who live there, with people volunteering to deliver groceries to undocumented immigrants and safeguard their neighborhoods from immigration authorities.

A representative for DHS did not immediately return a request for comment.

Weeks after Good's killing, Alex Pretti was shot and killed by Customs and Border Protection agents. Trump administration officials initially defended the agents, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem calling Pretti a "domestic terrorist." However, days after his killing, the administration said it would be drawing down its operation in the state. This week, officials said they wouldsend home 700 agents.

The Justice Department has opened a federal civil rights probe into Pretti's death but has not done so for Good.

"Renee and I chose kindness. We believed that every life deserves the same care, treatment, and dignity, no matter who they are or what they look like," Becca Good said in her statement. "That shouldn't be radical. If it is, then I want Renee and our family to be known for how we practiced radical kindness every day."

The killings have prompted calls toreform DHS and forNoem to resign. Two of Renee Good's brothers addressed lawmakers this week at a public forum to raise concerns about the violent tactics used by DHS.

"The deep distress our family feels because of Nee's loss in such a violent and unnecessary way is complicated by feelings of disbelief, distress and desperation for change," Luke Ganger, one of the brothers, testified.

Recalls have become a common occurrence over the years. Whether it's our favorite snack food being pulled from shelves or everyday essentials like eggs or chicken, it seems like there is a new recall every couple of weeks, withSalmonella contaminationamong the biggest offenders.Dogandcat foodhaven't been spared either.

A recent recall includes nearly 2,000 products spanning multiple brands, affecting consumers' pantries along with their pets. The recall's scale is due to its origin at a distribution center serving three states.

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Widespread Recall Effects Dog And Cat Products in Three States

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Gold Star Distribution, Inc. issued a recall of all its FDA-regulated products held at its facility, including multiple popular pet food brands such as Meow Mix, Purina Dog and Cat Chow, Tidy Cats Litter, and more. The FDApress releasestates that rodent and avian contamination was discovered in the facility, which ships products to stores in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Indiana.

"The facility was operating under insanitary conditions, including the presence of rodent excreta, rodent urine, andbirddroppings in areas where medical devices, drugs, human food, pet food, and cosmetic products were held," said the FDA. "These conditions create a significant risk that products held at the facility may have been contaminated with filth and harmful microorganisms."

If the products come into contact with droppings or urine, microorganisms can be transmitted to people who pick them up, creating a significant health risk. Consumers may be exposed to bacterial infections, including Salmonella, by simply touching product boxes.

Salmonella is incredibly dangerous, especially to certain population groups like infants, small children, pregnant women, elderly people, and the immunocompromised. For these groups, Salmonella infections can be fatal, whereas healthy people may experience only nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and stomach pain. While rare, the infection can also lead to severe illnesses like endocarditis, arthritis, and other bloodstream-activated illnesses.

Related: 7 Signs Your Pup Would Do Anything for You, According to Trainers

Another possible disease contracted from touching or consuming the affected products is leptospirosis, which affects both people and their pets. Dogs and cats who are exposed to Salmonella or leptospirosis should be monitored for lack of appetite, lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea, and fever.

Here is the list of the affected pet products and their UPCS:

• 3.15LB 9 LIVES CAT FOOD 'INDOOR COMPLETE' 4CT: 079100505647;0; 0079100523191

• 3.15LB 9 LIVES CAT FOOD 'DAILY ESSENTIALS' 4CT: 079100581221

• 9 LIVES CAN CHICKEN DINNER 5.5oz/24CT #3608: 079100004102

• PURINA DOG CHOW 4.4lb/4CT: 017800410274;0; 17800180283

• Purina Puppy Chow 4.4lb/ 4CT: 017800180269

• Purina Cat Chow Complete Bags 4/3 15LB: 017800179911

• Dog Treat Snack Shack PB Bone 24 CT: 850089007618

• Dog Treat Snack Shack CHZ & Bacon Bone 24 CT: 850089007595

• Fancy Feast Cat Food, Creamy Delight Salmon 3oz/ 24ct: 050000168231

• Fancy Feast Cat Food Medleys Florentine: 050000572813

• Fancy Feast Cat Food Gravy Lovers: 050000580064

• Friskies Shreds With White Fish & Tuna: 050000103690

• Friskies Prime Filet With Beef: 00050000212200

• Friskies Pate Salmon Dinner: 050000423344

• Friskies Pate Poultry: 050000423641

• Friskies Shreds Turkey & Cheese: 050000467723

• Friskies Assorted Cans

• Friskies Seafood Sensations

• Friskies Indoor Delights

• Friskies Surfin' & Turfin'

• Meow Mix Original Bag 18oz/ 6CT: 829274454186

• Meow Mix Original 3.15 Lb/ 4CT: 829274513753

• Meow Mix Beef & Salmon 3Lb/ 4CT: 829274831253

• Meow Mix Chicken & Tuna: 829274512527

• Meow Mix Salmon & Turkey: 829274519137

• Tidy Cat Litter: 070230107107

• Tidy Cat Litter: 070230107602

• Tidt Cat Litter: 070230171108

See the full 44-page list of productshere.A list of stores where the products were sent is included in the FDA'spress release.If your pet products are on the list, Gold Star advises that the products should be immediately destroyed. Refunds will be issued upon request and verification of destruction.

So far, there have not been any illnesses reported to the FDA in conjunction with this recall. But, if you suspect you or your pet has any illness symptoms or contamination-related concerns, contact your doctor and/or your veterinarian immediately.

Any reactions or illnesses can be reported to the FDA via its online reportingform, or you can download theform, mail it to the address listed, or fax it to 1-800-FDA-0178.

Related: Veterinary Study Reveals That 94% of Homemade Dog Food Is Missing Critical Nutrients

This story was originally published byParade Petson Feb 7, 2026, where it first appeared in thePet Newssection. Add Parade Pets as aPreferred Source by clicking here.

President Donald Trump's administration can continue to detain immigrants without bond, marking a major legal victory for the federal immigration agenda and countering aslew of recentlower court decisions across the country that argued the practice is illegal.

A panel of judges on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Friday evening that the Department of Homeland Security's decision to deny bond hearings to immigrants arrested across the country is consistent with the constitution and federal immigration law.

Specifically, circuit judge Edith H. Jones wrote in the 2-1 majority opinion that the government correctly interpreted the Immigration and Nationality Act by asserting that "unadmitted aliens apprehended anywhere in the United States are ineligible for release on bond, regardless of how long they have resided inside the United States."

Under past administrations,most noncitizenswith no criminal recordwho were arrested awayfrom the border had an opportunity to request a bond hearing while their cases wound through immigration court. Historically, bond was often granted to those without criminal convictions who were not flight risks, and mandatory detention was limited to recent border crossers.

"That prior Administrations decided to use less than their full enforcement authority under" the law "does not mean they lacked the authority to do more," Jones wrote.

The plaintiffs in the two separate cases filed last year against the Trump administration were both Mexican nationals who had both lived in the United States for over 10 years and weren't flight risks, their attorneys argued. Neither man had a criminal record, and both were jailed for months last year before a lower Texas court granted them bond in October.

The Trump White House reversed that policy in favor of mandatory detention in July, reversing almost 30 years of precedent under both Democrat and Republican administrations.

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Friday's ruling also bucksa November district court decision in California, which granted detained immigrants with no criminal history the opportunity to request a bond hearing and had implications for noncitizens held in detention nationwide.

Circuit Judge Dana M. Douglas wrote the lone dissent in Friday's decision.

The elected congress members who passed the Immigration and Nationality Act "would be surprised to learn it had also required the detention without bond of two million people," Douglas wrote, adding that many of the people detained are "the spouses, mothers, fathers, and grandparents of American citizens."

She went on to argue that the federal government was overriding the lawmaking process with DHS' new immigration detention policy that denies detained immigrants bond.

"Because I would reject the government's invitation to rubber stamp its proposed legislation by executive fiat, I dissent," Douglas wrote.

Douglas' opinion echoed widespread tensions between the Trump administration and federal judges around the country,who have increasinglyaccused the administration of flouting court orders.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi celebrated the decision as "a significant blow against activist judges who have been undermining our efforts to make America safe again at every turn."

"We will continue vindicating President Trump's law and order agenda in courtrooms across the country," Bondi wrote on the social media platform X.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Alberto Castañeda Mondragón's memory was jumbled after he says he was badly beaten last month while being taken into custody byimmigration officers. He did not remember much of his past, but the violence of the Jan. 8 arrest in Minnesota was seared into his battered brain.

Immigration Enforcement Minnesota Hospital

The Mexican immigrant told The Associated Press this week that he remembers Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pulling him from a friend's car outside aSt. Paulshopping center and throwing him to the ground, handcuffing him, and then punching him and striking his head with a steel baton.

He remembers being taken to a detention facility, where he said he was beaten again. Then came the emergency room and the intense pain from eight skull fractures and five life-threatening brain hemorrhages.

Castañeda Mondragón, 31, is one of an unknown number of immigration detainees who, despite avoiding deportation, have been left with lasting injuries following violent encounters with ICE. While the Trump administration insists ICE limits its enforcement operations to immigrants with violent rap sheets, he has no criminal record.

Here's what to know about the case, one of the excessive-force claims the federal government has thus far declined to investigate.

Immigrant says attack was unprovoked

ICE officers who arrested Castañeda Mondragón on Jan. 8 told nurses the man "purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall," an account Hennepin County Medical Center staffimmediately doubted. A CT scan showed fractures to the front, back and both sides of his skull — injuries a doctor told AP were inconsistent with a fall.

ICE's account evolved as Castañeda Mondragón lay stricken in the hospital. At least one officer told staff the man "got his (expletive) rocked," according to court documents filed by a lawyer seeking his release and nurses who treated him.

"There was never a wall," Castañeda Mondragón told AP, recalling ICE officers striking him with the same metal rod used to break the windows of the vehicle he was in. He later identified it as atelescoping batonroutinely carried by law enforcement.

Training materials and police use-of-force policies across the U.S. say such a baton can be used to hit the arms, legs and body. But striking the head, neck or spine is considered potentially deadly force.

Once he was taken to an ICE holding facility in suburban Minneapolis, Castañeda Mondragón said, officers resumed beating him. He said he pleaded with them to get a doctor, but they just "laughed at me and hit me again."

DHS will not discuss the case

The Trump administration this week announced abroad rolloutof body cameras for immigration officers in Minneapolis even as the government draws down ICE's presence there. But it's not clear whether Castañeda Mondragón's arrest was captured on body-camera footage or if there might be additional recordings from security cameras at the detention center.

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TheDepartment of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, has not responded to repeated requests for comment on the case.

The government's only acknowledgment of the injuries came in a Jan. 20 court filing that said it was learned during his arrest that "had a head injury that required emergency medical treatment."

The same filing said Castañeda Mondragón entered the U.S. legally in March 2022 and that the agency determined only after his arrest that he had overstayed his visa. A federal judge ruled his arrest had been unlawful and ordered him released from ICE custody.

Elected officials call for accountability

The case has drawn the attention of several officeholders in Minnesota, including Gov. Tim Walz, who this week posted an AP story about the case on X. But it's not clear whether any state authorities are investigating how Castañeda Mondragón was injured.

The Ramsey County Attorney's Office, which oversees St. Paul, urged Castañeda Mondragón to file a police report to prompt an investigation. He said he plans to file a complaint. A St. Paul police spokesperson said the department would investigate "all alleged crimes that are reported to us."

"We are seeing a repeated pattern of Trump Administration officials attempting to lie and gaslight the American people when it comes to the cruelty of this ICE operation in Minnesota," Sen. Tina Smith, a Minnesota Democrat, said in a statement.

Rep. Kelly Morrison, another Democrat and a doctor, recently toured the Whipple Building, the ICE facility at Ft. Snelling. She said she saw severe overcrowding, unsanitary conditions and an almost complete lack of medical care. She and other Minnesota Democrats say injuries that occur in ICE custody should be investigated.

"If any one of our police officers did this, you know what just happened in Minnesota with George Floyd, we hold them accountable," said Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum, whose district includes St. Paul. "There's no reason why federal agents should not be held to the same high standard."

Biesecker reported from Washington. Mustian reported from New York, and Attanasio reported from Seattle.

Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative.Report for Americais a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — What's in a surname? For many people from Spain and Latin America, it's about who your father is and who your mother is.

The tradition of using two surnames helps clearly identify familial relationships in much of the Spanish-speaking world. But in the United States, having two surnames can be a bureaucratic headache, or worse.

More than68 millionpeople in the U.S. identify as ethnically Hispanic, according to the latest census estimates. Many of them use two surnames.

One famous example can be found in the birth name of Puerto Rican rap superstar Bad Bunny, who is set to perform in the halftime show at this weekend's Super Bowl. His given name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, after his father Tito Martínez and his mother Lysaurie Ocasio.

But there is more to the origin story of Hispanic surnames.

How are Hispanic surnames formed?

In Spain and most Latin American countries, surnames are composed of two names. The first name is from the father and the second from the mother, with some exceptions.

Here is how it works. If Victoria's father is named Daniel Flores Garcia, and her mother is named Ana Salinas Marquez, her surnames will be Flores Salinas.

Women often keep their birth names when they marry, but laws and traditions vary by country. Women sometimes append the husband's paternal surname. An older way to do this is using "de," which means "of" as part of the name.

So if Victoria Flores Salinas marries Carlos Sandoval Cruz, she will likely remain Victoria Flores Salinas. But in some countries she might become Victoria Flores Sandoval or Victoria Flores de Sandoval. Other variations are also possible, like appending Sandoval after Salinas.

Regardless, if Victoria and Carlos have a child named Francisco, his full name will be Francisco Sandoval Flores.

How does this work in the United States?

People with typical Hispanic surnames who live in the U.S. often simply use the paternal surname to conform with the norm of a single last name. So in the United States, Francisco Sandoval Flores might just go by Francisco Sandoval.

However, people unfamiliar with these naming conventions sometimes assume the father's name is a middle name, not a surname.

To avoid that problem, some people continue to use both surnames. Still others hyphenate the two names. Occasionally, people even squish the two names together. Susana Pimiento has had to use all three of these strategies in the more than 20 years since she moved to the U.S.

Making sure official documents match, almost

Pimiento owns a translation and interpreter services agency in Austin, Texas, but is originally from Colombia. Her full name is Susana Pimiento Chamorro, but she uses that only for official government business. Even then, things can get tricky.

When she went to get a driver's license for the first time in Texas, the only way they would allow her to keep her two surnames was by hyphenating them.

"I could have dropped my mother's last name, but then it wouldn't have matched with my passport," she said.

Some airlines only allow one surname on a ticket, so she has to run both of her surnames together as if they were one word.

When she got a green card, things were even worse. The government issued it with her husband's name "not even in the American way, but in the old Latin American way," she said. "So I was Susana de Hammond. Like 'of Hammond.'"

She had to return the card, which did not match any of her other documentation. It was a year before the government finally issued a new one with her actual name. In the meantime, she had to seek special permission to leave the U.S. so she could travel for work.

"Before I got married, I told my husband, 'I'm not taking your name, you know? There is no way'," she said. "So then when my green card came with Susana de Hammond, we laughed. We thought that it was a joke. But, oh my gosh, it was so hard to straighten it out!"

A suicide bomber kills at least 31 in Islamabad mosque attack.

A suicide bomber killed dozens of people and injured more than 160 during Friday prayers at a Shiite Muslim mosque in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, authorities said.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack via two posts on its Telegram channel, and included the name and picture of the alleged bomber. CNN was unable to immediately verify the image.

The death toll stood at 32 as of Saturday afternoon, according to police in Islamabad.

IS said the attacker shot guards who tried to stop him before detonating his explosive vest. In its statement the group warned that "there is still more to come."

This was the deadliest attack in the country since January 2023, when a blast at a mosque in the northwestern city of Peshawar killed more than 100 people.

"We had just begun the prayer when we heard the sound of gunfire, followed by a powerful explosion," a worshipper at the mosque, Syed Ameer Hussain Shah, 47, told CNN.

"I got injured as well. At that time, the mosque hall was full, with more than 400 worshippers inside."

Pakistan has witnessed a rising wave of militancy in recent years, but attacks have been less frequent in the heavily guarded capital. A bombing in Islamabad in November, which killed 12, was the deadliest suicide attack to rock the city in nearly two decades.

Images in the aftermath of the attack showed bodies covered in blood lying on the floor of the mosque surrounded by shards of glass and debris.

"It was a horrible scene of my life which I could never have imagined," 24-year-old Shoaib told CNN from PIMS Hospital Islamabad, where he was visiting his wounded cousin.

"I heard the sound of single fire when we were in the middle of Friday prayers and, after a few seconds, a huge deafening sound of the explosion," he said. "Everyone was running outside while some worshipers began to shift the wounded to hospital. My young cousin sustained a wound in the right leg."

The US embassy in Islamabad condemned the attack. "Acts of terror and violence against civilians and places of worship are unacceptable," it said on X. "The people of Pakistan deserve safety, dignity, and the ability to practice their faith without fear."

Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari said the targeting of innocent civilians was "a crime against humanity," and the entire nation stood "shoulder to shoulder with the families affected," the Associated Press reported.

Neighboring Afghanistan's ministry of foreign affairs also condemned the attack. "The Islamic Emirate considers attacks that violate the sanctity of mosques and sacred religious rites and target worshippers and civilians to be in contradiction to Islamic and humanitarian values," it said.

CNN's Sophie Tanno contributed reporting. This story has been updated with Islamic State claiming responsibility and new death toll.

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TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — It's been a week since "Today" show hostSavannah Guthrie's mother disappeared from her home in Arizona in what authorities say was a kidnapping.

Savannah Guthrie Mom Missing

Investigators have been examining ransom notes and looking for evidence but have not named a suspect. On Friday, officers returned to 84-year-oldNancy Guthrie's home near Tucson and to the surrounding neighborhood to continuetheir search.

Here's what to know about the case:

The disappearance

Family members told officials theylast saw Guthrieat 9:48 p.m. on Jan. 31 when they dropped her off at home after they ate dinner and played games together. The next day, family learned she didn't attend church. They reported her missing after they went to check on her.

Guthrie has a pacemaker and needs daily medication. Her family and authorities are worried her health could be deteriorating by the day.

Collecting evidence

Authorities think Guthrie wastaken against her willfrom her home in an upscale neighborhood that sits on hilly, desert terrain. DNA tests showed blood on Guthrie's front porch matched hers, the county sheriff has said.

Investigators found her doorbell camera was disconnected early Sunday and that software data recorded movement at the home minutes later. But investigators haven't been able to recover the footage because Guthrie didn't have an active subscription to the service.

Pima County Sheriff ChrisNanos told The Associated Pressin an interview that investigators have not given up on trying to access those images.

"I wish technology was as easy as we believe it is, that here's a picture, here's your bad guy. But it's not," Nanos told the AP on Friday. "There are pieces of information that come to us from these tech groups that say 'This is what we have and we can't get anymore.'"

The president of the Catalina Foothills Association, a neighborhood group, thanked residents in a letter for being willing to speak with law enforcement, share camera images and allow their properties to be searched.

Ransom notes

At least three media organizations reported receiving purported ransom notes, which they handed over to investigators. Authorities made an arrest after one ransom note turned out to be fake, the sheriff said.

It's unclear if all of the notes were identical. Heith Janke, the FBI chief in Phoenix, said details included a demand for money with a Thursday evening deadline and a second deadline for Monday if the first one wasn't met. At least one note mentioned a floodlight at Guthrie's home and an Apple watch, Janke said.

Investigators said they are taking the notes seriously.

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On Friday, KOLD-TV in Tucson said it received a new message, via email, tied to the Guthrie case. The station said it couldn't disclose its contents. The FBI said it was aware of a new message and was reviewing its authenticity.

Family appeals

Concern about Guthrie's condition is growing because authorities say she needs daily medicine that's vital to her health. She has a pacemaker, high blood pressure and heart issues, according to sheriff's dispatcher audio onbroadcastify.com.

Guthrie's children recordedtwo separate video messagesto their mother's abductor and posted them publicly on social media.

Savannah Guthriefilmed a sometimes emotional messageon Wednesday asking the kidnapper for proof their mother was alive. She noted that technology today allows for theeasy manipulation of voices and imagesand the family needed to know "without a doubt" that she is alive and in the abductor's hands.

Police have not said that they have received any deepfake images of Nancy Guthrie.

Savannah Guthrie described her mother as a "kind, faithful, loyal, fiercely loving woman of goodness and light" and said she was funny, spunky and clever.

"Talk to her and you'll see," she said.

She spoke some words directly to her mom, saying she and her siblings wouldn't rest until they're all together again.

Trump's involvement

The FBI has offered a $50,000 reward for information about Guthrie's whereabouts.

The White House said President Donald Trump called and spoke with Savannah Guthrie on Wednesday. He posted on social media that he was directing federal authorities to help where they can.

On Friday night, he told reporters flying with him to his Florida estate on Air Force One that the investigation was going "very well" and investigators had some strong clues.

Famous kidnappings

The kidnapping is the latest abduction toattract the American public's attention.

Other notorious kidnappings in U.S. history have included the son of singer Frank Sinatra, the granddaughter of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst and the 9-year-old girl for whom the AMBER Alert was named.

A federal judge ruled Friday to temporarily block the Trump administration from suspending federal disbursements for the Gateway Tunnel Project.

Construction on the project was expected to end Friday night without court intervention. Judge Jeannette Vargas has also asked for both parties to submit additional information on the issue within the next few days.

The tunnel is being constructed under the Hudson River to connect New York and New Jersey. The pause in building would have resulted in the immediate loss of nearly 1,000 jobs,according to a press release from the project, and an extended pause could put about 11,000 construction jobs at risk.

The administrationhalted fundingfor the $16 billion project when the government shut down last fall. But despite the shutdown ending in November and government funding packages passing this week, the administration has not released the funds.

The administration asked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for the Dulles International Airport in Washington and Penn Station in New Yorkto be named after President Donald Trumpin exchange for releasing the funds needed to build the tunnel, multiple sources told NBC News Thursday.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement said the judge's ruling "affirmed" that the Trump administration's funding freeze "is likely to be found unlawful."

"This ruling is a victory for the thousands of union workers who will build Gateway and the hundreds of thousands of riders who rely on it every day," Hochul said.

New York Attorney General Letitia James called the ruling a "victory for workers and commuters in New York and New Jersey," adding that the funding freeze "threatened to derail a project our entire region depends on."

The $16.1 billion project includes a new railway tunnel under the Hudson River that would link New York and New Jersey. The administration's freeze came after the project already underwent years of delays and other problems. It was revitalized in 2024 after President Joe Biden's administration said it would provide an additional $6.9 billion in funding.

"Suspending the funding for this monumental project based on the President's desire to punish political rivals violates the Administrative Procedure Act many times over. In this Complaint, Plaintiffs New Jersey and New York ask the Court to stay, vacate, declare unlawful, and enjoin the September 30 decision to suspend federal funding for the Project," the states said in their complaint.

The states alleged that the funding has been halted "because President Trump is engaged in political retribution."

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill also celebrated the ruling, writing in a statement that "President Trump's arbitrary and politically motivated decision to freeze this funding is plainly illegal."

Jennifer Davenport, acting attorney general of New Jersey, said in her own statement that halting construction would "cause grave harm to New Jersey and New York."

"The Trump Administration must drop this campaign of political retribution immediately and must allow work on this vital infrastructure project to continue," Davenport said.

White House budget director Russell Vought said at the time of the funding freeze that he was stopping funding for infrastructure projects to "ensure" it wasn't used "on unconstitutional DEI principles."

Both New Jersey and New Yorkhave suedto force the administration to release the funds, which had already been appropriated.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Attorneys for the federal government have until next Thursday to reach an agreement with human rights lawyers who are seeking to ensure the right to counsel for people detained at anImmigration and Customs Enforcementfacility in Minnesota, a judge said Friday.

Immigration Enforcement Ruses Minnesota

Advocates said people held at the facility on the edge of Minneapolis who face possible deportation are denied adequate access to lawyers, including in-person meetings. Attorney Jeffrey Dubner said detainees are allowed to make phone calls, but ICE personnel are typically nearby.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel told Justice Department attorney Christina Parascandola that there seemed to be a "very wide factual disconnect" between what the human rights lawyers allege and the government's claims of adequate access at what ICE depicts as only a temporary holding facility.

Parascandola said people detained at the facility have access to counsel and unmonitored phone calls at any time and for as long as they need. She conceded she had never been there.

Brasel called her argument "a tough sell," noting there was far more evidence in the case record to back up the plaintiffs' claims than the government's assurances.

"The gap here is so enormous I don't know how you're going to close it," the judge said.

Rather than ruling on the spot, Brasel told both sides to keep meeting with a retired judge who's mediating and who has helped narrow some of the gaps already. She noted at the start of the hearing that both sides agreed that "some degree of reasonable access" to legal counsel is constitutionally necessary but that they differed on the details of what that should look like.

If the sides don't reach at least a partial agreement by 5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12, the judge said she'll issue her order then. She didn't specify which way she'd rule.

A member of Congress decries conditions at detention center

The facility is part of the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, which is a center of ICE operations and has been the scene of frequent protests.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Kelly Morrison, of Minnesota, said in a statement Friday that conditions at the detention center continue to be poor. The physician said she learned in her visit Thursday night that the facility has no protocols in place to prevent the spread of measles to Minnesota from Texas. At least two cases were reported at a major ICE detention center in Texas this week.

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Some Minnesota detaineesincluding families with childrenhave been sent to the Texas facility, and some have returned to Minnesota after courts intervened, including5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramosand his father.

"It's abundantly clear that Whipple is not at all equipped to handle what the Trump Administration is doing with their cruel and chaotic 'Operation Metro Surge,'" Morrison said in a statement. "I am stunned by the inability or unwillingness of the federal agents to answer some of the most basic questions about their operations and protocols."

Even though afederal judge ruled Mondaythat members of Congress have the right to make unannounced visits to ICE facilities, Morrison said in a statement that agents attempted to deny her entry for nearly a half-hour and demanded that she leave before eventually letting her in.

On herfirst attemptlast month, Morrison and fellow Minnesota Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar and Angie Craig were turned away.

After she was able to enter the facility last weekend, Morrison said no real medical care was being offered to people held there.

Craig and Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum said they were turned away despite the court order when they tried to visit the facility overnight.

"We have heard countless reports that detainees are being held in unlivable conditions at Whipple," the two representatives said in a statement. "We have every reason to believe that this administration is once again lying through their teeth and trying to hide what we all know to be true -- that they are ignoring due process and treating immigrants as political pawns, not people."

Man charged with fel ony for wrecking anti-ICE sculpture

A supporter of the immigration crackdown who posted a video on social media of himself kicking down an anti-ICE sculpture outside the Minnesota state Capitol in St. Paul was released from jail Friday after being charged with a felony count of damage to property.

Lt. Mike Lee, a spokesperson for the Minnesota State Patrol, said Capitol Security observed Jake Lang, 30, of Lake Worth, Florida, damaging the display Thursday afternoon. He was arrested a short distance away. The ice sculpture spelled out "Prosecute ICE."

At his first court appearance, Lang was released pending trial but ordered to stay at least three blocks away from the Capitol. Court records don't list an attorney who could comment on his behalf.

Lang wasdrowned out by a large crowdlast month when he attempted to hold a small rally in Minneapolis in support of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. Lang was previously charged with assaulting an officer and other crimes before receiving clemency as part of President Donald Trump's sweeping intervention on behalf of Jan. 6 defendants last year.

A federal judge ruled Friday to temporarily block the Trump administration from suspending federal disbursements for the Gateway Tunnel Project.

Construction on the project was expected to end Friday night without court intervention. Judge Jeannette Vargas has also asked for both parties to submit additional information on the issue within the next few days.

The tunnel is being constructed under the Hudson River to connect New York and New Jersey. The pause in building would have resulted in the immediate loss of nearly 1,000 jobs,according to a press release from the project, and an extended pause could put about 11,000 construction jobs at risk.

The administrationhalted fundingfor the $16 billion project when the government shut down last fall. But despite the shutdown ending in November and government funding packages passing this week, the administration has not released the funds.

The administration asked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for the Dulles International Airport in Washington and Penn Station in New Yorkto be named after President Donald Trumpin exchange for releasing the funds needed to build the tunnel, multiple sources told NBC News Thursday.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement said the judge's ruling "affirmed" that the Trump administration's funding freeze "is likely to be found unlawful."

"This ruling is a victory for the thousands of union workers who will build Gateway and the hundreds of thousands of riders who rely on it every day," Hochul said.

New York Attorney General Letitia James called the ruling a "victory for workers and commuters in New York and New Jersey," adding that the funding freeze "threatened to derail a project our entire region depends on."

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The $16.1 billion project includes a new railway tunnel under the Hudson River that would link New York and New Jersey. The administration's freeze came after the project already underwent years of delays and other problems. It was revitalized in 2024 after President Joe Biden's administration said it would provide an additional $6.9 billion in funding.

"Suspending the funding for this monumental project based on the President's desire to punish political rivals violates the Administrative Procedure Act many times over. In this Complaint, Plaintiffs New Jersey and New York ask the Court to stay, vacate, declare unlawful, and enjoin the September 30 decision to suspend federal funding for the Project," the states said in their complaint.

The states alleged that the funding has been halted "because President Trump is engaged in political retribution."

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill also celebrated the ruling, writing in a statement that "President Trump's arbitrary and politically motivated decision to freeze this funding is plainly illegal."

Jennifer Davenport, acting attorney general of New Jersey, said in her own statement that halting construction would "cause grave harm to New Jersey and New York."

"The Trump Administration must drop this campaign of political retribution immediately and must allow work on this vital infrastructure project to continue," Davenport said.

White House budget director Russell Vought said at the time of the funding freeze that he was stopping funding for infrastructure projects to "ensure" it wasn't used "on unconstitutional DEI principles."

Both New Jersey and New Yorkhave suedto force the administration to release the funds, which had already been appropriated.

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Nearly two weeks after anice stormknocked out power to her home, Barbara Bishop still finds herself trying to flip the lights on and looking in her fridge for food that has since spoiled.

Winter Weather Mississippi

Bishop, 79, and her 85-year-old husband, George Bishop, live in a rural area near Oxford, Mississippi, where ice-coated trees snapped in half, bringing down power lines and making roads nearly impassable.

After the storm hit, the Bishops took in their son, granddaughter and two children, whose homes lost both power and water.

The family endured days of bitter cold with nothing but a gas heater to keep them warm. For a few days, they lost water.

"It's just been one of those times you just have to grit, grit your teeth and bare it," Bishop said.

Nearly 20,000 customers remained without power in northern Mississippi on Friday, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide. That is down from about 180,000 homes and businesses without power in Mississippi shortly after the storm struck late last month.

Lafayette County, where Oxford is located, had the most remaining outages of any county on Friday, with about 4,200 customers without power, followed by Tippah County with about 3,500. Panola, Yalobusha and Tishomingo counties all had more than 2,000 customers without power.

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After days of bitter cold, temperatures in Oxford reached 70 degrees on Friday, but the chunks of ice still littered the ground in shaded areas.

Downed trees had been gathered into large piles on the sides of roads, some burned and still smoldering. While much of the worst damage had been cleared, in some places, power lines still hung low over roads and laid strewn about in parking lots. Everywhere, tree limbs dangled precariously.

Across the street from the Bishops, Russ Jones and his wife have no electricity or water. For days, they used five-gallon buckets filled with water to flush toilets, cooked on their gas stove and stayed warm by their fireplace.

"It's been a shock to the system," Jones said, adding that he and his wife began staying with friends who have power a few days ago.

On Friday, Jones' yard was teaming with volunteers from Eight Days of Hope, a nonprofit that responds to natural disasters. The volunteers cleared snapped tree limbs and hauled away a large tree that had fallen in Jones' backyard.

The organization arrived days after the storm and has helped dozens of homeowners clean up their yards and patch damaged roofs. It has also served more than 16,000 free meals.

Jones said it was a relief to know he had one less thing on his plate. When a volunteer handed him a free T-shirt and a blanket for his wife, he held back tears.

"It's just beyond anything I could ever imagine," he said.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Attorneys for the federal government have until next Thursday to reach an agreement with human rights lawyers who are seeking to ensure the right to counsel for people detained at anImmigration and Customs Enforcementfacility in Minnesota, a judge said Friday.

Advocates said people held at the facility on the edge of Minneapolis who face possible deportation are denied adequate access to lawyers, including in-person meetings. Attorney Jeffrey Dubner said detainees are allowed to make phone calls, but ICE personnel are typically nearby.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel told Justice Department attorney Christina Parascandola that there seemed to be a "very wide factual disconnect" between what the human rights lawyers allege and the government's claims of adequate access at what ICE depicts as only a temporary holding facility.

Parascandola said people detained at the facility have access to counsel and unmonitored phone calls at any time and for as long as they need. She conceded she had never been there.

Brasel called her argument "a tough sell," noting there was far more evidence in the case record to back up the plaintiffs' claims than the government's assurances.

"The gap here is so enormous I don't know how you're going to close it," the judge said.

Rather than ruling on the spot, Brasel told both sides to keep meeting with a retired judge who's mediating and who has helped narrow some of the gaps already. She noted at the start of the hearing that both sides agreed that "some degree of reasonable access" to legal counsel is constitutionally necessary but that they differed on the details of what that should look like.

If the sides don't reach at least a partial agreement by 5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12, the judge said she'll issue her order then. She didn't specify which way she'd rule.

A member of Congress decries conditions at detention center

The facility is part of the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, which is a center of ICE operations and has been the scene of frequent protests.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Kelly Morrison, of Minnesota, said in a statement Friday that conditions at the detention center continue to be poor. The physician said she learned in her visit Thursday night that the facility has no protocols in place to prevent the spread of measles to Minnesota from Texas. At least two cases were reported at a major ICE detention center in Texas this week.

Some Minnesota detaineesincluding families with childrenhave been sent to the Texas facility, and some have returned to Minnesota after courts intervened, including5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramosand his father.

"It's abundantly clear that Whipple is not at all equipped to handle what the Trump Administration is doing with their cruel and chaotic 'Operation Metro Surge,'" Morrison said in a statement. "I am stunned by the inability or unwillingness of the federal agents to answer some of the most basic questions about their operations and protocols."

Even though afederal judge ruled Mondaythat members of Congress have the right to make unannounced visits to ICE facilities, Morrison said in a statement that agents attempted to deny her entry for nearly a half-hour and demanded that she leave before eventually letting her in.

On herfirst attemptlast month, Morrison and fellow Minnesota Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar and Angie Craig were turned away.

After she was able to enter the facility last weekend, Morrison said no real medical care was being offered to people held there.

Craig and Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum said they were turned away despite the court order when they tried to visit the facility overnight.

"We have heard countless reports that detainees are being held in unlivable conditions at Whipple," the two representatives said in a statement. "We have every reason to believe that this administration is once again lying through their teeth and trying to hide what we all know to be true -- that they are ignoring due process and treating immigrants as political pawns, not people."

Man charged with fel ony for wrecking anti-ICE sculpture

A supporter of the immigration crackdown who posted a video on social media of himself kicking down an anti-ICE sculpture outside the Minnesota state Capitol in St. Paul was released from jail Friday after being charged with a felony count of damage to property.

Lt. Mike Lee, a spokesperson for the Minnesota State Patrol, said Capitol Security observed Jake Lang, 30, of Lake Worth, Florida, damaging the display Thursday afternoon. He was arrested a short distance away. The ice sculpture spelled out "Prosecute ICE."

At his first court appearance, Lang was released pending trial but ordered to stay at least three blocks away from the Capitol. Court records don't list an attorney who could comment on his behalf.

Lang wasdrowned out by a large crowdlast month when he attempted to hold a small rally in Minneapolis in support of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. Lang was previously charged with assaulting an officer and other crimes before receiving clemency as part of President Donald Trump's sweeping intervention on behalf of Jan. 6 defendants last year.

President Donald Trump told reporters he didn't see the entire video before it was shared on his social media platform late Thursday night that included a racist animation of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama depicted with the bodies of apes and suggested he won't apologize for it.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday evening, Trump said he only saw the first part of the since-deleted video that focused on debunked claims about the 2020 election.

"I guess during the end of it, there was some kind of picture people don't like. I wouldn't like it either, but I didn't see it," Trump said. "I just, I looked at the first part, and it was really about voter fraud."

At the end of the video, the Obamas' faces appear abruptly on the bodies of apes without explanation with the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" playing over it. The video then ends back on imagery of the election conspiracy video footage.

Asked if he would apologize for the video, Trump said, "No, I didn't make a mistake. I mean ... I look at a lot of, thousands of, things, and I looked at the beginning of it. It was fine."

Asked if he condemned the racist portion of the video, Trump said, "Of course I do."

The video was shared on the president's social media account at 11:44 p.m. ET on Thursday. Following the backlash after the video was posted, the White House at about noon Friday said the post had been taken down from the president's page.

The Obamas had no comment when ABC News reached out to their representatives for a response. They have not publicly commented on the post, but later Friday night, they did make their first comments since the incident -- wishing team USA good luck at the Winter Olympics in a social media post.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, when first asked for comment early Friday, had said, "This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King. Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public."

Later Friday afternoon, a White House official told ABC News that a "staffer erroneously made the post."

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Asked by reporters Fridays who posted the video, Trump said he saw the video first -- but not the racist portion at the end, he claimed -- and then gave it to "the people" to have it posted to his account.

The meme video referenced by Leavitt was shared in October by the Hardin County Republican Party of Kentucky on Facebook, which led the chairman to issue an apology and deleted the post after swift backlash noting the long history of racist tropes depicting Black people as apes or monkeys -- a tool of slave traders and segregationists to dehumanize them.

The video reposted by Trump overnight included only imagery of the Obamas.

Trump's overnight repost was condemned by lawmakers on Capitol Hill, some of whom had called for it to be taken down and for the president to apologize.

Republican Sen. Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate and also the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, posted on X: "Praying it was fake because it's the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House. The President should remove it."

Trump told reporters he later spoke with Scott over the phone on Friday.

During the conversation, Trump told Scott that the video had been posted by a staffer by mistake and that he would take it down, according to a source familiar with the call. The post was later removed.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the first Black leader of a party in Congress, wrote on X: "President Obama and Michelle Obama are brilliant, compassionate and patriotic Americans. They represent the best of this country. Donald Trump is a vile, unhinged and malignant bottom feeder."

"Every single Republican must immediately denounce Donald Trump's disgusting bigotry," Jeffries wrote.

Republican Sen. Roger Wicker wrote in a post: "This is totally unacceptable. The president should take it down and apologize."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, wrote in a post: "Racist. Vile. Abhorrent. This is dangerous and degrades our country -- where are Senate Republicans? The President must immediately delete the post and apologize to Barack and Michelle Obama, two great Americans who make Donald Trump look like a small, envious man."

Before she arrived at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center last fall, Kelly Vargas said, her 6-year-old daughter was thriving. Maria loved school and spent her afternoons drawing and playing with her cat.

But Vargas said that within days of the family's being detained and sent to the prisonlike facility in South Texas — where guards patrol the halls and the lights never turn off — her daughter began to unravel.

After years without accidents, Maria started wetting her pants and her bed. She cried through the night, asking when she and her parents would return to their apartment in New York. She begged to start breastfeeding again.

Vargas, who was deported to Colombia with her family in November after having spent nearly two months at Dilley, said she never imagined the United States could act so callously.

"How are they going to do this to a child?" Vargas told NBC News, speaking in Spanish. "How could this happen here?"

Accounts from detained families, their lawyers and court filings describe the federal detention center in Dilley as a place where hundreds of children languish as they're served contaminated food, receive little education and struggle to obtain basic medical care.

The center was thrust into the national spotlight last month after Immigration and Customs Enforcementtook Liam Conejo Ramos, a 5-year-old boy, to the facility following his father's arrest in Minneapolis — an encounter captured in a photograph showing the boy in a blue bunny hat as he was taken into federal custody.

The image ricocheted across the country, igniting outrage from lawmakers and the public. To many Americans, it was a sudden introduction to the harsh realities of ICE'sincreasing reliance on family detention. But to Vargas and the lawyers who have spent months tracking conditions at Dilley, Liam's fearful expression — andhis father's accountof the child falling ill while detained — captured something painfully familiar.

"Liam is all the kids there," said Becky Wolozin, a senior attorney at the National Center for Youth Law, which monitors conditions at the facility under a long-standing federal court settlement. "Just like Liam, we've had families tell us how their children have been horribly sick and throwing up repeatedly, refusing to eat and becoming despondent and listless."

Those concerns have taken on new urgency in recent days after health officials confirmedtwo measles cases among people detainedat Dilley. Advocates and medical experts warn that a highly contagious disease spreading inside a crowded facility housing young children — some already medically vulnerable — poses an acute public-health risk.

Lawyers representing families at Dilley say they have struggled to get clear answers from the Department of Homeland Security about the outbreak, including any steps being taken to limit its spread or verify whether children are vaccinated.

DHS defended its use of family detention in a statement to NBC News after this article was published. The agency said detainees at Dilley are provided "comprehensive medical care" and other basic necessities and that it was taking action to contain the spread of measles.

"Medical staff is continuing to monitor the detainees' conditions and will take appropriate and active steps to prevent further infection," the agency said Friday.

Ryan Gustin, a spokesperson for CoreCivic, whichhas a contractto run the facility that's expected to bring in $180 million annually, referred questions about Dilley to DHS and said in a statement that "the health and safety of those entrusted to our care" is the company's top priority.

Since April, when the federal governmentresumed large-scale family detentionas part of the Trump administration's vow to dramatically escalate immigration arrests and deportations, an estimated 1,800 children had passed through Dilley as of December, according to figures provided by court-appointed monitors. About 345 children were being held there with parents that month, Wolozin said. Some families remain for a few weeks; others have been detained for more than six months.

Family detention was common during the Obama administration, and it expanded in President Donald Trump's first term, before being largely halted under President Joe Biden. Unlike earlier iterations of family detention, many of the children now held at Dilley are U.S. residents, apprehended not at the border but at their homes, outside schools, in courthouses and during routine immigration check-ins.

The Trump administration has argued the practice allows parents and children to remain together while removal proceedings are pending. But advocates and human rights groups say detaining children is harmful and never warranted, noting that families with pending immigration cases have historically been allowed to remain together outside detention, including through the use of ankle monitors.

The overwhelming majority of parents detained with children are sent to Dilley, a sprawling complex set amid scrubland an hour south of San Antonio, far from the communities where the families had been living.

As immigration lawyers began sounding the alarm about conditions at the facility, the Trump administrationfiled a motion last springtooverturn a decades-old legal settlementrequiring basic rights for immigrant children in federal custody — safeguards that advocates say DHS is already violating. The protections, known as the Flores Settlement Agreement,trace back to a 1985 class-action lawsuitagainst the federal government alleging that immigrant children were being held in unsafe conditions.

Interviews with immigration lawyers, Liam's father and the Vargas family and dozens of sworn declarations from detained familiesfiled as part of the recent Flores litigationdescribe a facility that functions far more like a prison than a child care center: constant surveillance, rigid schedules, overnight bed checks. Parents report that many children stop eating, lose weight and become withdrawn.

Families describe sleeping in crowded, dorm-style rooms with little privacy and filthy shared bathrooms. Outdoor areas are largely concrete and tightly supervised, parents say, and there are few toys or activities to occupy children indoors.

"It is a prison where we are keeping children as young as 1 year old," said Elora Mukherjee, a professor at Columbia Law School and director of its Immigrants' Rights Clinic, who has represented several detained families. "We're keeping children there who are currently breastfeeding. It's unconscionable."

Food is a recurring source of distress. Court filings describe meals that are greasy, heavily seasoned or inappropriate for preschoolers and infants. Several parents said they found worms or mold. Some children survive largely on crackers and juice. One mother said she resorted to sucking pasta sauce off noodles for her child, hoping he would eat.

"My younger son does not eat the food here, he is hungry all the time," another mother wrote in a sworn declaration submitted to federal court. "He will only accept breastmilk and it is not enough for him. He is growing. He is two and a half, and he needs to eat."

Parents of children too young to grasp what was happening said they struggled to keep up a facade of normality. Adrián Alexander Conejo Arias, Liam's father,told Noticias Telemundohepassed the time by retelling storiesfrom episodes of "Bluey," the popular children's show about a family of blue heeler dogs, and recounting happy memories. He could do little else "except hug him and tell him everything would be OK," Conejo said.

Education is an afterthought at Dilley, parents and lawyers say. Children get no more than an hour of daily instruction, and overcrowding means some are turned away. The work consists largely of worksheets and coloring pages, parents say. Older children say they're bored, falling behind and missing their teachers and classmates.

"Inside the classroom, there are two women laughing in English and watching YouTube," a 14-year-old detainee wrote in a sworn declaration. "I was in 9th grade before I came here. If I had to go back to my country now, I'd have to repeat the grade because of all the school I've lost."

Medical care also is often cursory, families report, even when children show signs of serious illness or injury. In several cases described in court declarations, children — including some with developmental delays or chronic conditions — regressed while they were detained, losing language skills, wetting themselves or engaging in self-harm. Some parents said their complaints were dismissed until their children's conditions worsened significantly.

Eric Lee, an immigration attorney who has represented families at Dilley, described a child suffering from appendicitis who collapsed in pain after having been denied meaningful medical attention. The child passed out in a hallway vomiting and writhing, Lee said, only to be offered Tylenol.

The psychological toll can be just as severe. During a recent visit, Lee said, a 5-year-old girl described a recurring nightmare: A large animal chases her, but she can't outrun it because she's trapped in a cage.

She and her siblings "wake up crying for their mom every night because they're worried they're going to get separated from her," Lee said.

Lawyers representing detainees argue that prolonged confinement in harsh conditions — coupled with repeated warnings about family separation — is meant to coerce parents into abandoning pending asylum claims that could allow them to remain in the U.S.

DHS tells detained families, "Well, if you want this to stop, agree to give up your case," said Javier Hidalgo, legal director for RAICES, which provides legal support for immigrant families in Texas, including at Dilley. "We've heard that time and time again."

Kelly Vargas said she and her husband felt that pressure from the moment they arrived at Dilley with their daughter, Maria.

The family came to the U.S. in 2022 after having fled Colombia and settled in New York, where they checked in regularly with immigration officials. They had applied for special visas for human trafficking victims,saying they were subjected to forced laborand death threats while they were traveling through Mexico.

After they were arrested during a September check-in and sent to Dilley, Vargas said, officers repeatedly pressured her and her husband to drop their visa applications.

"He told us that if we didn't deport ourselves, they were going to take our daughter from us," she said. "Our daughter would be left in the custody of the state, where not even our lawyers would know where she was."

At first, Vargas said, she and her husband resisted, determined to fight for the life they had built in New York, where he worked in construction during the day and she worked as a waitress and cleaner overnight. They initially told Maria they were on vacation in Texas, but the girl knew better. She would drop to her knees and beg to go home to see her cat, Milo. At times, Vargas said, she screamed so intensely that even staff members appeared shaken.

"Get me out of here," she would cry. "I want to leave."

Maria's health quickly declined, Vargas said. She developed a persistent cough and struggled to eat, losing weight as the days passed. Then, Vargas said, a staff member who was cleaning accidentally struck her daughter in the eye with a mop, drawing blood.

Despite her daughter's continued complaints of blurred vision, sensitivity to light and hearing problems, Vargas said, doctors dismissed her concerns and delayed further evaluation.

In a statement, DHS said Maria received appropriate medical care for her eye injury, which it said was the result of the girl striking her own eye with a broom handle. At a follow-up appointment two days later, a pediatrician "observed no redness, swelling and no vision problems," the agency said.

With her daughter ailing, Vargas said, she and her husband finally agreed to leave the country.

They were deported to Colombia in November. The family received "full due process" before their removal, the DHS statement said.

Vargas worries they'll never fully heal from their two months at Dilley. Maria still has vision problems and headaches. The sweet girl who loved her teacher and played with Barbies is now fearful and withdrawn, talking often about her weeks in Texas and the workers who watched over her.

Whenever she sees a police officer, she tenses.

"It's the bad men," she says.