ICE halts movement at Texas family center after measles

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement halted all movement inside the family detention facility in Dilley, Texas, after state health officials confirmed two active measles infections among detainees, federal authorities said. The Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed the cases on January 31, 2026, a DHS spokesperson said.

Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson described in Fox News as “Assistant Secretary,” said in a statement, “On January 31, 2026, the Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed active measles infections of two detainees at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas.” McLaughlin told USA TODAY that “ICE Health Services Corps immediately took steps to quarantine and control further spread and infection, ceasing all movement within the facility and quarantining all individuals suspected of making contact with the infected.” She added that detainees were being monitored by medical personnel and that officials were taking “appropriate and active steps to prevent further infection.”

The facility is identified in reporting both as the South Texas Family Residential Center and the Dilley Immigration Processing Center; it sits roughly 70 to 75 miles southwest of San Antonio. The Marshall Project, which has reported on conditions inside the center, said the site is the main facility for family detention and that it reopened last year after being closed in 2024. At the time of a recent visit by Rep. Joaquin Castro, the outlet reported, the facility housed about 1,100 people, including a 2-month-old infant.

On the same day the measles cases were confirmed, Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Democrat from San Antonio, escorted a 5-year-old and his father out of the facility. Fox News identified the child as Liam Conejo Ramos and his father as Adrian Alexander Conejo and published a photo credited to Castro showing them leaving the center on January 31.

Public health officials and advocates have raised alarms about disease control in crowded detention settings. USA TODAY noted that the Texas cases follow three measles infections confirmed among immigration detainees in Arizona the prior week. The Marshall Project has highlighted complaints about medical care and long stays for families, including the case of Hayam El-Gamal and her children, one account saying they had been held for eight months. The outlet quoted Rep. Castro saying in a live-streamed visit, “They are literally being treated as prisoners,” and cited advocates warning that as family detention expands, “it’s only a matter of time before we see a child die.”

ICE said its health corps quarantined the two confirmed cases and those suspected of exposure and that medical staff were monitoring potentially exposed people. Officials have not publicly identified the two detainees with measles, and reporting has not disclosed their ages, vaccination status or whether either required hospitalization.

The episode underscores public health challenges when highly contagious diseases appear in congregate settings holding children. Federal and state health authorities have moved to contain the outbreak, but advocates and lawmakers say the incident adds urgency to long-standing concerns about medical care, oversight and the rapid expansion of family detention in recent months.