Trump DHS Locks Down ICE Detention Facility Where Liam Ramos Was Held Amid Measles Outbreak

AP Photo/Brenda Bazán

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has locked down a detention facility in Dilley Texas after a measles outbreak, CBS News reported Sunday — the same facility that held 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father until they were released on Saturday.

In December, U.S. measles cases hit a three-decade high, with numerous outbreaks across the country and widespread criticism for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who spent years working for anti-vaccine causes and spreading anti-vaccine conspiracy theories before being nominated by President Donald Trump.

Ramos’ detention by ICE agents in Minnesota gained nationwide attention; images of the small boy in his blue bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack went viral and were swiftly depicted on protest posters. Ramos’ neighbors and school officials said that immigration agents used him as “bait;” the Department of Homeland Security disputed those reports as an “abject lie.”

Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Ramos, were being held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, which has been used to hold children and families accused of immigration violations. They were released Saturday pursuant to a judge’s order and returned to Minnesota. The two were escorted home by Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), who shared images on his social media thanking “everyone who demanded freedom for Liam.”

According to the article by CBS News immigration reporter Camilo Montoya-Galvez, ICE has halted “all movement” at the detention center in Dilley. Some of the detainees have also been quarantined, Montoya-Galvez reported, with medical staff finding “active measles infections” in two detainees, confirmed by DHS in a statement Sunday.

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said that the measles cases were detected on Friday.

“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,” said McLaughlin in a statement provided to CBS News, adding that medical officials were monitoring the facility, “all detainees are being provided with proper medical care,” “and officials were taking “appropriate and active steps to prevent further infection.”

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