Emotional Damage Done By Ice

Floor Speech

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Ms. SALINAS. Mr. Speaker, Amalia, an 18-month-old, was sent to Dilley Detention Facility where she began to fall ill. Her parents waited in the health clinic line eight separate times, begging for little Amalia's life.

It wasn't until Amalia's blood oxygen levels were low enough to kill off part of her tiny brain that ICE took her concerns seriously. Amalia was admitted to the ICU where she was diagnosed with COVID-19, pneumonia, RSV, and was in severe respiratory distress.

As a mother, I know that even just one of these diagnoses can be a death sentence for a toddler, and this story is far from unique.

Children as young as 2 months old are being held at Dilley for more than 40 days, which is double the legal limit, under nightmarish conditions: worm-infested food, unsanitary drinking water, and mothers being separated from their children, all while being screamed at by agents. In any other setting, we would call this out for what it is: child abuse.

While detained babies sit on lawyers' laps to represent themselves in court, Trump is spending billions of dollars on ICE, which could be used to improve the lives of hardworking families who are just trying to provide stable homes for their children.

Mr. Speaker, Trump can stop this chaos now, but the emotional damage is done. The fear, instability, and trauma these children have experienced will never disappear. It will linger for generations.

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