Since Donald Trump returned to the White House, at least 500 babies and toddlers have been held in ICE detention. On any given day, 25 children aged 3 and under are currently imprisoned in immigration facilities. That number is ten times higher than it was under the Biden administration.

These are not statistics. These are infants.

A 2-year-old named Kaleth stopped eating for 12 days after being separated from his father and taken to a detention center in Texas. Facility doctors attributed it to depression. His face grew gaunt. His eyes sank into their sockets. A 1-year-old named Amir stopped speaking — except for two words: "mom" and "dad." He began hitting himself in the face. A baby named Amalia developed COVID-19, an ear infection, pneumonia, bronchitis, and RSV while in custody. Her oxygen levels dropped to dangerous levels before she was transferred to a hospital. Her mother had to beg staff not to let her die.

The American Academy of Pediatrics calls infancy and toddlerhood "probably the most harmful time of their lives to have them in detention." Every second of the first years of life, more than a million new neural connections form in a child's brain. Toxic stress and imprisonment during that window causes damage that experts say will echo for decades.

A federal court order limits child detention to 20 days. The Trump administration has held at least 175 babies and toddlers beyond that limit anyway.

Lights stay on all night. Stuffed animals are prohibited. Formula is rationed. Tap water smells foul. These are not detention conditions. This is abuse.

We're calling on the Trump administration to immediately release every baby and toddler currently in ICE custody and end the detention of children under 3 once and for all.