ANKARA

A 10-year-old girl was detained by US federal agents while heading to her school bus stop in Minnesota and flown more than 1,200 miles (1,931 kilometers) to an immigration detention facility in Texas, drawing renewed scrutiny over child detentions under the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, media reports said on Friday.

More than an hour before dawn on Friday, Elizabeth Zuna Caisaguano and her mother were driving toward the girl’s school bus stop in suburban Minneapolis when federal agents intercepted their vehicle and surrounded it with multiple cars, according to her family and school officials, according to CNN.

Elizabeth believed the agents were taking her to school, her father, Luis Zuna, said.

“She said, ‘ICE is going to drop me off at school,’” he said. “So, I thought, OK, they will drop her off at school.”

Instead, Elizabeth and her mother were detained and flown roughly 1,200 miles to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, a facility that holds families awaiting immigration proceedings.

When Elizabeth did not arrive at school, staff at Highland Elementary grew alarmed.

“He was here at school by 7:30 a.m. looking for her,” school secretary Carolina Gutierrez said.

“Several staff members waited outside the building for a vehicle to approach and drop her off. No one ever came,” school social worker Tracy Xiong said.

By that afternoon, school officials learned that Elizabeth and her mother had already been transferred to Texas.

The Department of Homeland Security denied allegations that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) targets students or schools.

“ICE does NOT target children or schools. ICE keeps families together,” DHS said in a statement.

Even more children taken by ICE hands

Elizabeth’s case was not isolated. Over the following weeks, at least six additional children from the same Minnesota school district were taken to the Dilley facility with their parents, according to Kristen Stuenkel, a district spokesperson, as reported by NBC.

On Jan. 29, two brothers -- one in second grade and the other in fifth grade -- were removed after their mother attended a routine immigration appointment.

“Their mother called the school and asked the principal to bring her sons to the federal building where she was being held,” Stuenkel said.

The family was detained for nearly a week before being released and returned to Minnesota. While at Dilley, the boys recognized another schoolmate in the cafeteria.

“This fifth-grade girl is still detained at Dilley,” Stuenkel said.

Conditions inside the Dilley facility have drawn criticism from detained families, attorneys, and advocates. Accounts describe children experiencing nightmares, illness, hunger, and a lack of schooling.

Kelly Vargas, who was detained at Dilley with her 6-year-old daughter, Maria, before being deported to Colombia, said her child’s health deteriorated rapidly.

“She started wetting the bed, crying through the night, and begging to go home,” Vargas told NBC News.

“How are they going to do this to a child?” she said.

Families and lawyers described meals as contaminated or unsuitable for young children, with some parents reporting mold or worms in food.

“My younger son does not eat the food here. He is hungry all the time,” one mother wrote in a sworn court declaration.

Education at the facility is limited. Children reportedly receive no more than an hour of instruction per day, consisting largely of worksheets and coloring pages.

“If I had to go back to my country now, I’d have to repeat the grade because of all the school I’ve lost,” a 14-year-old detainee wrote.

Serious health concerns, denial of treatment

Medical care has also been criticized as inadequate. Attorneys described children regressing developmentally, losing language skills, or engaging in self-harm.

Eric Lee, an immigration lawyer, said one child suffering from appendicitis collapsed after being denied meaningful care and was offered only pain medication.

Health concerns intensified after officials confirmed two measles cases among detainees at the facility.

DHS said medical staff were monitoring conditions and taking steps to prevent further infection.

The Dilley center is operated by CoreCivic under a federal contract valued at about $180 million annually.

A company spokesperson said the health and safety of detainees is its top priority.

Elizabeth’s detention followed her family’s long asylum process. Her parents fled rural Ecuador in 2020, citing violence and discrimination.

“The conditions were really tough,” her father said. “They almost killed me.”

Although the family complied with immigration requirements, a judge denied their asylum claim in Sept. 2025. The decision is under appeal, according to their attorney.

DHS said Elizabeth’s mother had a final removal order and that officers allowed her to seek alternative care for her child before detaining the family together.

After nearly a month in detention, Elizabeth and her mother were released and returned to Minnesota.

“We’re still not clear on the exact reason,” attorney Bobby Painter said.

School officials and advocates said the impact of the detentions extends beyond individual families.

“Children belong in schools, not in detention,” Xiong said. “No child should ever disappear on her way to school.”