Olivia, a 19‑year‑old asylum seeker from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has spent more than four months confined at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas. She told the Guardian, "Another day passes, another night comes… And sometimes I feel that this nightmare is not going to end." The facility, which reopened last year, now holds roughly 5,600 immigrants, over half of them children.
Olivia was seized with her mother and two younger siblings in November 2022 while they were traveling through the United States after fleeing political persecution in the DRC. After a brief reunion at Dilley, the family was split again when ICE agreed to release the mother and children but kept Olivia, who is legally an adult, in detention. She was moved between several centers before arriving at Dilley, where she was forced to wear an orange jumpsuit and, at times, shackles that left marks on her wrists and ankles.
She described sleepless nights, saying, "At night, when no one is paying attention, everyone is asleep, that's when I can cry." By 3 a.m. she is exhausted, and nightmares return, often recalling her brother Manuel, who drowned at eight while the family crossed South America, and the cold of a New York detention site she calls "the fridge." Officials confiscated her coat there, leaving her shivering in a single layer.
A mental‑health professional evaluating her case noted symptoms of post‑traumatic stress disorder. Olivia also suffers from vision problems because her contact‑lens prescription expired a month ago and she cannot see an optometrist. She survives on the limited meals provided, remarking, "It's not great, but it's better than what they get for lunch or dinner, so she tries to eat at least a little bit." A friend helped her confirm that her mother and siblings remain at Dilley, and she learned that her sister Estefania calls out Olivia's name each day in the hope of being heard.
The family's asylum claim was denied, prompting an appeal while they considered seeking refuge in Canada. Their attempt to cross the northern border resulted in immediate detention, sending the mother and younger children straight to Dilley and leaving Olivia isolated from them. She continues to hope for reunification as the legal process drags on.
Olivia's separation from her mother and siblings, despite being held in the same facility, reveals a stark inconsistency in U.S. immigration policy: children are kept together while adults, even those who arrived together, are isolated and shuffled between centers. This practice not only fragments families but also subjects adults like Olivia to harsher conditions, such as solitary confinement and the use of restraints.
The episode fits into a broader trend of expanding adult detention under the Trump administration, where facilities like Dilley have been repurposed from prisons to immigration hubs. The surge in detentions has drawn criticism from human‑rights groups and medical professionals who warn that prolonged confinement fuels mental‑health crises, as evidenced by Olivia's PTSD symptoms and chronic sleep deprivation.
For African migrants, Olivia's ordeal underscores the precarious path from persecution in their home countries to asylum in the United States. The DRC's political instability continues to push citizens toward dangerous journeys, only to encounter a detention system that offers little protection or support. Developing nations watching the U.S. response may reassess the viability of seeking refuge in America, especially when legal avenues are obstructed and families are routinely split.
Future monitoring should focus on any
