83 Days in Dilley: One Mother's Account of Family Detention

In our work providing advocacy and legal representation to people seeking refuge in the United States, we have the privilege of meeting people from all over the world who have been forced to flee from their homes – people who show extraordinary courage and strength in the face of unimaginable obstacles. Human Rights First’s Refugee Advocacy team met Viktoriia and her family while researching and writing Human Rights First’s and RAICES recent report “A New Era of ICE Family Prisons.”

In 2025, Viktoriia and her husband fled Russia with their six-year-old son after facing persecution for speaking out against the Kremlin and opposing Russia's war on Ukraine. Human rights defenders advised them to flee “as far away as possible,” and in November, they sought asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.

While Viktoriia knew that the process of seeking safety would be long and complex, she did not anticipate being held for 83 days in horrific conditions at the reopened Dilley Processing Center in Dilley, Texas (referred to as “Dilley”) – the largest family immigration detention facility in the United States.

In early 2025, the second Trump administration resumed the shameful practice of family detention, marking the first time that families had been detained in over three years. Since April 2025, more than 5,600 people, including parents, children, toddlers, and newborn babies, have been imprisoned at Dilley. Imprisoned families include people seeking asylum, families with pending visa petitions, families with humanitarian parole, and families who have lived in the United States for years.

When Viktoriia’s family arrived at Dilley, she and her son were separated from her husband, who was placed in a separate housing unit for men. Family separations are rampant within Dilley, where adult parents are separated by gender, and this means that fathers are often prevented from having any physical contact or time with their families.

For 83 days, Viktoriia and her son shared a room with approximately eleven other people. It was impossible to rest, as lights stayed on around the clock with staff entering at random hours during the night, slamming doors, and consistently disrupting their sleep, “all of which created immense psychological pressure,” she shared.

“People need to know that this is not a holiday camp. It is a prison where families – including those with infants – are detained for months on end,” Viktoriia said. “People are brought in indiscriminately, and the authorities show no interest in investigating the reasons for their detention; not everyone held there actually has issues with their documents or any other legal matters. The primary objective is deportation.”

Viktoriia also shared with us a glimpse into the abysmal conditions inside Dilley, sharing how difficult it was to access nutritious food, clean water, legal assistance or medical care inside. The tap water ran brown, and drinking containers were visibly moldy, forcing parents in detention to purchase bottled water at $2 per bottle. Meals were limited to salty soups three times a day, with an occasional apple or biscuits.

Detention is cruel, unjust and harmful for everyone, especially children. Viktoriia’s son struggled while at Dilley, crying almost every evening, “he didn't understand why we were being held,” she said. “He would say that we weren't criminals. Every day, he hoped for his freedom.”

In Dilley, children were forbidden from running and shouting outdoors, and denied pencils and paper for drawing; sometimes, staff would discard drawings and crafts that the children made and left in their rooms. “This would make the children cry,” she said, “My own child constantly carried his drawings with him, terrified that they would be thrown away.”

When her son fell ill, he was denied medical care. Viktoriia waited with him for two hours outdoors in the Texas heat without shade, only to be turned away when the doctor left early. She returned with her son the next morning. Her son's fever worsened, and he started having hallucinations. She brought him to the medical unit and waited four more days to see a doctor, who eventually gave him ibuprofen. He was sick for two weeks. “We were terrified for our child's health,” she said.

After a harrowing 83 days in Dilley, separated from her husband, Viktoriia and her family were released and reunited. They are settling in, and working on restoring their health after their time at Dilley.

“My son is doing much better now. He is attending school and really likes it here,” she shared with us.

Viktoriia’s story reminds us that seeking safety is an act of love, and of courage: “I love the feeling of unconditional love – the act of loving someone simply for who they are, just for their very existence. I love watching them grow, change, and evolve. It brings me immense joy to know that, within this little human being, there is a part of me.”

On World Refugee Day, we honor their courage, strength, and love of Viktoriia and her family. But we also call for an end to the conditions that continue to demand this courage. No one should have to display the superhuman courage and strength that we have seen in people seeking safety, like Viktoriia, who generously share their experiences with us. Today, our most profound wish for the people we work with is that they no longer have to be courageous in exercising their right to seek safety, but that they are welcomed in their new homes, and that they can rebuild their lives in ease.