Ahit piece in The New York Times claiming the medical care provided at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers is ‘poor’ is riddled with falsehoods, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told The Federalist.
The New York Times on Saturday ran through several claims that several illegal aliens did not receive proper care: Aliens were forced to wait long periods of time to be “lucky enough to see a doctor,” diabetes patients did not receive regular insulin, and detainees faced various other medical care failures.
According to DHS, those claims are totally unfounded.
“These allegations of illegal aliens being denied proper medical care in ICE custody are FALSE. It is both policy and longstanding practice for aliens to receive timely and appropriate medical care from the moment they enter ICE custody,” Dr. Sean Conley, DHS chief medical officer, told The Federalist. “This includes medical, dental, women’s health and mental health services, any needed follow up medical appointments as well as 24-hour emergency care. This is better, more responsive healthcare than many aliens have ever received in their entire lives.”
The New York Times claims that medical staff at Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas “downplayed” the concerns Kheilin Domelis Valero Marcano and Stiven Jose Arrieta Prieto had about the medical condition of their 18-month-old daughter, Amalia Isabella Arrieta-Valero. The Biden administration released the Venezuelan family in 2024 after they entered the country illegally, according to DHS.
Marcano and Prieto claim, apparently through a lawyer, that medical staff delayed until Arrieta-Valero developed a fever that allegedly lasted 19 days and caused her to lose two pounds.
According to DHS, however, after Arrieta-Valero developed a respiratory condition, she “immediately received proper medical care and was admitted to the Methodist Children’s Hospital in San Antonio, Texas for treatment.”
She stayed at the hospital for eight days, and then a pediatrician approved her release. She was brought back to Dilley, where she received further medical monitoring and prescriptions.
Another claim in the hit piece is about Anastasiia Ekimovskaia, a 35-year-old illegal alien from Russia who entered the United States illegally on Oct. 6, 2025, who “reported no medical or mental health” concerns upon arrival at Dilley, DHS said.
The New York Times says DHS staff refused care to Ekimovskaia for hemorrhaging and bleeding “through six sanitary pads.” She was ultimately taken to a hospital, allegedly after “pleading with staff and after they demanded proof.” She showed the pads and was given a prescription that “took weeks to arrive” as “the bleeding continued.”
According to DHS, Ekimovskaia said she had side pain on Nov. 1, and disclosed a “history of kidney stones.” After consulting with the medical staff who “started appropriate treatment” and planned a future visit to revisit the situation, on Nov. 6, she sought care for “menstrual discomfort and heavy bleeding,” DHS said.
After going to Frio Regional Hospital upon referral from Dilley’s medical provider, she was “diagnosed with moderate heavy menstrual bleeding” and referred to an off-site obstetrician-gynecologist and had “multiple follow-up appointments.”
Hellbound and Down 