(DILLEY, TEXAS) — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement halted “all movement” inside the Dilley Immigration Processing Center after Texas health officials confirmed active measles infections in two detainees, triggering quarantine and monitoring measures aimed at containing spread in the family detention facility.
ICE Health Services Corps “immediately quarantined all individuals suspected of contact with the infected detainees, ceased all internal movement, and is monitoring conditions while providing medical care to prevent further spread,” Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.
Measles can spread quickly in congregate settings, and containment steps typically rely on rapid isolation of infected people, quarantining close contacts, and limiting movement to reduce new exposures while clinicians watch for symptoms.
Dilley Immigration Processing Center, also known as the South Texas Family Residential Center, houses families with children facing immigration proceedings. The facility sits about 70 miles southwest of San Antonio, in Texas.
Capacity shapes how aggressive restrictions become after a contagious disease appears in a closed environment, because crowding and shared spaces can widen exposure risk and complicate separating people into groups for isolation and quarantine.
The facility has a capacity of 2,400 detainees.
The timeline moved quickly once staff detected the cases. The infections were detected on Friday, January 30, 2026.
State health officials confirmed the active infections on Saturday, January 31, 2026. DHS announced the situation publicly on Sunday, February 1, 2026.
ICE halted movement after the Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed the infections, and it quarantined people suspected of contact with the two detainees, McLaughlin said.
The outbreak response at Dilley intersected with a separate legal case tied to conditions and exposure concerns at the facility. A federal judge ordered the release of Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, the same day DHS announced the confirmed cases.
The father is also reported as Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias. Both had been detained at Dilley after an operation in Minnesota.
Officials carried out a full medical exam before their release, and they were cleared of exposure risk. They returned to Minneapolis on Sunday.
The release and medical clearance mirrored how facilities try to reduce risk during a communicable disease response: screen for potential exposure, document findings, and separate or clear people before movement. Public officials did not describe individual medical findings beyond the clearance framing.
The measles infections also disrupted planned oversight visits as movement restrictions and quarantine took hold. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) visited the facility on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, with staff who are vaccinated against measles.
Castro’s office planned a follow-up inspection on Friday, January 30, or February 6, 2026, with nine other members of Congress. The office canceled the trip because of the cases.
Katherine Schneider, a spokesperson for Castro, relayed what the congressman’s office said it heard from detainees during the visit.
“The detainees described the inhumane and horrific conditions at Dilley detention center to the Congressman and our staff. There is unreliable access to medical care and a negligent disregard for babies, kids, women, and men when they are sick and suffering. Let’s be clear: ICE is entirely responsible for these conditions,” Schneider said.
Neha Desai, a lawyer with the National Center for Youth Law representing children in custody, connected the measles infections to broader concerns about detention.
“In the meantime, we are deeply concerned for the physical and the mental health of every family detained at Dilley. It is important to remember that no family needs to be detained — this is a choice that the administration is making,” Desai said.
Outside the facility on Sunday, the League of United Latin American Citizens rallied for its closure as the measles infections drew renewed attention to health conditions inside detention centers. National President Roman Palomares framed the protest in moral terms.
“When a nation that calls itself a beacon of freedom detains children behind razor wire, separates families from their communities, and holds them in isolated conditions, we have crossed a dangerous line,” Palomares said.
McLaughlin described the government’s approach as immediate quarantine, movement restrictions, and continued monitoring by medical staff.
“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. Medical staff is continuing to monitor the detainees’ conditions and will take appropriate and active steps to prevent further infection. All detainees are being provided with proper medical care,” she said.
McLaughlin also defended the broader standard of care in immigration custody.
“It is a longstanding practice to provide comprehensive medical care from the moment an alien enters ICE custody. This includes medical, dental, and mental health services as available, and access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care. This is the best healthcare than many aliens have received in their entire lives,” she said.
The Dilley quarantine and internal shutdown come as ICE’s detained population grows nationwide, raising operational pressure on facilities that must manage illness alongside court schedules, transfers and daily routines. ICE holds more than 70,000 individuals facing deportation, up from around 40,000 a year ago.
Measles infections have also risen nationally, compounding the challenge for detention centers and other congregate settings where outbreaks can move fast. In 2025, the U.S. recorded over 2,200 measles cases, specifically 2,267 per CDC.
West Texas accounted for 762 of those cases, with two child deaths and 99 hospitalizations. As of early 2026, the CDC reports at least 588 cases across 17 states.
Texas loomed large in the national tally last year, and the West Texas cluster underscored how regional outbreaks can stress health systems and spill into high-density environments. For detention centers like Dilley, which house families and children in shared spaces, the public health stakes rise when measles circulates more widely.
At Dilley, the immediate response focused on separating suspected contacts and limiting movement rather than continuing normal operations. By stopping internal movement, ICE aimed to reduce new exposures while medical staff monitored detainees who might develop symptoms.
Even so, oversight and advocacy groups treated the measles infections as further evidence of what they argue are systemic risks in family detention. Castro’s office said detainees described “unreliable access to medical care,” while Desai emphasized that “no family needs to be detained.”
The rally outside the gates placed a political message alongside a public health crisis, as advocates called for the facility’s closure while ICE and DHS described quarantine and medical monitoring as the core response. The clashing accounts left the outbreak itself as a focal point, with officials moving to contain a highly contagious virus inside one of the country’s largest family detention centers.
ICE Halts All Movement at Dilley Immigration Processing Center After Measles Infections in Texas
ICE has locked down the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas after two detainees were diagnosed with measles. The facility is currently under quarantine with all internal movement ceased to prevent further spread among families. While officials defend the medical care provided, U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro and advocacy groups have condemned the conditions, using the outbreak to highlight broader systemic risks in family detention centers.
