Egyptian Family of Six Says ICE Immigration Facility In Texas Is 'Slowly Killing Us On The Inside'

For months, advocates and human rights watchdogs have raised alarms about conditions inside the Dilley Immigration Center in Texas, the nation's only family detention facility.

A new report by The Texas Tribune compiled the experiences of an Egyptian family believed to be among those held there the longest after spending more than nine months. They say the prolonged detention is slowly consuming them.

The family, including the mother Hayam El Gamal and her five children ranging in age from 5 to 18, described what they say is abhorrent medical care, inedible food and a disregard for their religious freedom as Muslims.

"This prolonged detention has and continues to destroy our lives. It is slowly killing us on the inside," the 16-year-old boy wrote in a letter submitted to the outlet on March 11. "Our mental health is at great risk. It is rapidly deteriorating with every day we spend here. Our lives are without purpose. We are just waiting for this nightmare to end."

According to the outlet, the family was detained after the father, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, was charged with attacking Jewish protesters at an event in Boulder, Colorado, last June. Authorities accused him of throwing Molotov cocktails at demonstrators supporting Israeli hostages.

He allegedly wounded 29 people, and an 82-year-old woman later died from her injuries. Soliman has pleaded not guilty and remains in federal custody facing more than 100 charges.

Hayam said she met her husband through an arranged marriage, and the children have repeatedly denied any knowledge of the attack. They say their father was emotionally and physically absent and rarely spoke with them. The family has since disavowed him and is no longer in contact with him, their attorney said.

"We are six innocent people, including 5-years-old twins, trapped in a nightmare we didn't create," wrote Habiba El Gamal, the 18-year-old daughter.

More than 1,400 people are currently being held at Dilley, including about 400 children, according to families and attorneys cited by Noticias Telemundo. People being held there continue to allege inadequate medical care, poor-quality food and water, and overcrowding, despite recent statements from DHS asserting that detainees receive "the best healthcare many aliens have received in their entire lives."

The center, reopened during the current administration after several years closed, drew national attention last month after 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was brought there following his father's arrest in Minneapolis, before being eventually returned to Minneapolis after a federal judge ordered their release pending their asylum case.

According to the family's attorney, they have been detained far longer than the average stay at an immigration facility, which the Department of Homeland Security says is about two weeks.

"The five El Gamal children have been detained at the Dilley concentration camp for nine months and counting," their attorney, Michigan-based Eric Lee, said in a statement. "Their letters will be read by future generations as proof that they were victims and witnesses of a great historic crime."

Spokespeople for DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which oversees the facility, did not immediately respond to questions about the allegations. Representatives for CoreCivic, the private prison company that operates the detention center, also did not respond, according to The Texas Tribune.

According to the family, the past nine months have been filled with nightmares and distress. Hayam said her 5-year-old son, who had been potty trained, began wetting himself again. His twin sister wakes up at least three times a night screaming that she is "chased by something but can't escape because of the fence and locked gates."

Despite immigration judges ruling that the family should be released while their cases move through the courts, the administration has repeatedly tried to block their release. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who the administration abruptly ousted this month, had previously accused the family of knowing about the father's crimes, despite their repeated denials.

Lee said the family refuses to speak with him.

"They're very clear that he ruined their lives, and they want nothing to do with him," he said.