A 2-month-old infant who was detained with his mother at a federal detention facility has been deported after his case gained national notoriety because he fell ill and eventually became unresponsive amid a bout with bronchitis.
Juan Nicolás was detained at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dilley, Texas. He was held there for about three weeks, suffering from bronchitis and respiratory issues, including an episode where he became unresponsive and had to be hospitalized.
After a flurry of outrage on Tuesday, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) said the baby and his family had been deported with almost no money on them.
"After a discussion with their attorney, I have confirmed that Juan, his 16-month-old sister, his mom, and his dad have been deported," Castro wrote in an update on X. "According to their attorney, ICE deported the family with only the money that they had in their commissary—a total of $190. To unnecessarily deport a sick baby and his entire family is heinous."
Castro said he and his staff are in contact with the family.
"We are laser-focused on tracking them down, holding ICE accountable for this monstrous action, demanding specific details on their whereabouts and wellbeing, and ensuring their safety," he said.
In a separate post, Castro said the family was "abandoned across the border in Mexico."
The news reverberated across social media.
North Carolina congressional candidate Valerie Voushee wrote on X, "ICE deported Juan Nicolás, a child who spent three weeks in the Dilley ICE Detention Center in Texas and is suffering from bronchitis, to Mexico. This agency is beyond reform and threatens all of us. Deporting a sick child is completely inhumane—we need answers immediately."
Mai El-Sadany, a human rights attorney, wrote on X, "If you think abolishing ICE is too radical, I'd love to learn what you think there is left to save of an agency that is more interested in deportation counts than saving the life of a two-month old baby with bronchitis."
Applied scientist Rex Douglass wrote on X, "Since our fascist regime is about to change the subject by starting a war, just internalize they dumped a sick baby outside the country with no resources because it was politically embarrassing."
Kurt Bardella, author of The Watchdog Report on Substack, simply added, "The cruelty is the point."