Children’s food contaminated with worms and mold, limited access to clean drinking water, and inadequate medical care are among the allegations raised by migrant families in recent court filings about conditions their children faced in federal custody.pic.twitter.com/zMs92pIV7i
— WarMonitor (@TheWarMonitor) January 21, 2026
Court documents allege that migrant children in ICE custody are given food contaminated with worms and mold, limited access to clean drinking water and inadequate medical care. Becky Wolozin, a senior lawyer with the National Center for Youth Law, explained the details to PBS News:
So we have seen and heard a lot of things about children not getting child-friendly food, not being able to eat what’s offered. As you mentioned, people reported vegetables that were moldy or had worms in them…
We have seen families being held for longer and longer periods of time. And so, most recently, according to the data that we get, we have seen several, I would say dozens of families and children that were held for more than 80 days. And so these kids are spending months in detention in these horrible conditions…
They are not complying with the Flores Settlement Agreement. They’re holding children for extensive periods of time. The conditions are not meeting those basic requirements, as mentioned, not just because of the food. The water is problematic. Often, the water containers have mold or algae in them around the facility.
The lights are on all night. Children can’t sleep. There are constant interruptions. They don’t have access to school, which they admitted in their most recent filing. And, in fact, there’s so little to do there that it makes it all the more difficult for children to even cope with the situation in which they’re being held.
(Source: PBS News)