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Representative Ruiz raises concern about 7-year-old detained in South Texas; Congresswoman Dexter reportedly en route
Summary
Representative Ruiz said it has been 20 days since a seven-year-old, Diana, and her parents were taken into federal immigration detention in South Texas, cited a Florida settlement limiting unlicensed detention to about 20 days, and noted reports of a measles outbreak and that Congresswoman Maxine Dexter was traveling to investigate.
Representative Ruiz described the Caswell Gonzales family's detention in South Texas and said the child named Diana, age seven, had been detained for 20 days. Ruiz cited the Florida settlement that generally prohibits holding children in unlicensed detention for more than approximately 20 days and said prolonged detention harms children's health and development. Ruiz recounted reports that Diana was eating less and that the family had been separated for periods, and expressed alarm about reports of a measles outbreak in the region.
Ruiz noted that Congresswoman Maxine Dexter was traveling to South Texas "to demand answers, to insist in accountability, to attempt to visit the Crespo Gonzales family, to check on Diana's well-being, and to fight for the release and the return as soon as possible." Ruiz framed oversight and elected officials' physical presence as important for ensuring families are not treated as invisible. "Diana is 7 years old. She should be in school at Alder Elementary right now," Ruiz said, urging the House to act and to remember that the discussion was about a child and family rather than abstract policy.
No committee referral or formal action regarding the family was recorded in the transcript; Ruiz's remarks were an appeal to colleagues and a call for attention and oversight.
