Shut Down Dilley – End Child Detention | Texas Statewide Day of Action

On Saturday, October 3, Texas shows up at Dilley and across the state.

In a small town off I-35, about 70 miles southwest of San Antonio, sits the only family detention center in the United States. Since the Dilley facility reopened in March 2025, thousands of people have been held inside it, and more than half of them have been children.

Court records, journalists, and the attorneys who visit tell the same story: babies and toddlers behind a private prison contractor’s fence. Children held far past the 20-day limit a federal court set for exactly this reason, with one teenager held for 123 days. Families reporting spoiled food, water they don’t trust, medical care that doesn’t come, and threats of being separated from each other.

This is happening in Texas. And it stays possible only as long as most Texans don’t know about it.

So on October 3, we’re working on changing that.

Two ways to take part

1. Come to Dilley. A family-friendly, peaceful mass action at the facility itself, with Texans converging from San Antonio, Austin, and neighboring cities.

2. Act where you live. Indivisible groups and allies across Texas are holding local actions the same day: rallies at federal buildings and congressional offices, banner drops and visibility events on busy corners, letter-writing and phone banks, teach-ins, vigils, and fundraisers for detained families. Wherever you are in Texas, there is a way to be part of this. Check with your local Indivisible group for information about events in your area.

What we’re calling for

• Close the Dilley facility.
• End family detention: no child in ICE custody, for any length of time.
• Compliance with court-ordered protections for detained children, now.
• Invest in humane, community-based alternatives that keep families together and their cases moving.