McALLEN, Texas (AP) — Hundreds of immigrant children lingered in federal detention beyond a court-mandated limit, including some who were held more than five months, according to court filings that alarmed legal advocates who say the government is failing to safeguard children.
Attorneys for detainees highlighted the government's own admissions to longer custody times for immigrant children, contaminated food, a lack of access to medical care or sufficient legal counsel reported by families and monitors at federal facilities, as well as a renewed reliance on hotels for detention.
The attorneys' reports were filed late Monday in a civil lawsuit launched in 1985 that led to the creation in 1997 of court-ordered supervision of standards and eventually established a 20-day limit in custody. The Trump administration is attempting to end the agreement.
A Dec. 1 report from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement indicated that about 400 immigrant children were held in custody for more than the 20-day limit from August to September. They told the court the problem was widespread and not specific to a region or facility. The primary factors that prolonged their release were categorized into three groups: transportation delays, medical needs, and legal processing.
Legal advocates for the children contended those reasons do not prove lawful justifications for the delays in their release. Through interviews with detained families, advocates identified five children held for 168 days. The report didn't say how old those children were.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Hotel use for temporary detention is allowed by the federal court for up to 72 hours, but attorneys questioned the government's data, which they believe did not fully explain why children were held longer than three days in hotel rooms.
Conditions at the detention facilities continued to be an ongoing concern since the family detention site in Dilley, Texas, reopened this year.
Advocates documented injuries suffered by children and a lack of access to sufficient medical care. One child bleeding from an eye injury wasn't seen by medical staff for two days. Another child's foot was broken when a member of the staff dropped a volleyball net pole, according to the court filing. “Medical staff told one family whose child got food poisoning to only return if the child vomited eight times,” the advocates wrote in their response.
“Children get diarrhea, heartburn, stomach aches, and they give them food that literally has worms in it," one person with a family staying at the facility in Dilley wrote in a declaration submitted to the court. Another wrote that they were given “broccoli and cauliflower that were moldy and had worms.”
Chief U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee of the Central District of California is scheduled to have a hearing on the reports next week, where she could decide if the court needs to intervene.
This story has been edited to show that the court filing was submitted Monday evening, not Wednesday.
FILE - Unaccompanied migrant children watch television from inside a playpen at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility, the main detention center for unaccompanied children, March 30, 2021, in Donna, Texas. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills, Pool, File)
ESPOO, Finland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 10, 2025--
Tecnotree, a global digital platform and services leader for AI, 5G, and cloud-native technologies, has won the CX Catalyst award for Impact at The Fast Mode Awards 2025. The awards, hosted by leading independent media, research, and analysis platform The Fast Mode, recognises industry visionaries and transformative innovations redefining the global telecoms space.
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Tecnotree’s award‑winning CX platform delivers omnichannel engagement for operators across voice, SMS, social media, chat, web, and in-app channels. The solution uses AI- and ML-driven analytics to identify customer behaviour, preferences and lifecycle stages — enabling proactive engagement and churn prevention. Real-time personalization and decisioning ensure context-aware interactions, while campaign orchestration unifies communications across all touchpoints into a consistent customer journey.
By offering a unified customer profile across mobile, web, retail, support and billing systems, Tecnotree’s platform enables seamless support experiences and frictionless online-to-offline journeys. Its AI-driven insights and intelligent routing automate responses, anticipate needs, and recommend next-best actions — supporting faster resolution and smarter service delivery.
The winners of The Fast Mode Awards are selected through a rigorous evaluation process that combines review by an expert panel of distinguished industry leaders and further assessment through The Fast Mode solution assessment framework. Tecnotree was specifically recognized for Impact, for its CX platform that drive measurable improvements in customer experience, operational efficiency, and business growth for operators, demonstrating tangible results across the entire customer lifecycle.
“The calibre of entries this year truly demonstrate how the telecom industry is entering a new era of intelligent, experience-first networks,” said Tara Neal, Executive Editor at The Fast Mode. “Tecnotree stood out for embedding AI and personalization into real-world deployments — helping operators deliver transformative customer engagement and accelerate their CX strategies.”
“It is an incredible honour for us to be recognised at The Fast Mode Awards, especially as a CX Catalyst,” said Prianca Ravichander, CMO and CCO at Tecnotree. “Our CX platform was built with one goal: to help telcos deliver truly seamless, contextual customer journeys across all channels. This award reaffirms our mission to elevate telecom customer engagement through intelligent automation and data-driven personalization at scale.”
Over the last decade, Tecnotree has backed numerous digital transformation deployments across multiple regions, including North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. With several high-profile contracts and sustained strong financial performance, the company has consistently reinforced its role as a trusted provider of end-to-end digital solutions across CX, unified billing and subscription management, and digital marketplaces.
Tecnotree was also recognized in The Fast Mode 100, a prestigious series showcasing the top one hundred organizations, brands, initiatives, leaders, and stories shaping the global telecommunications ecosystem. Being featured in this year’s edition for Solution Providers highlights Tecnotree’s impact and leadership in driving digital transformation and proactive customer engagement, while emphasizing its role in shaping the future of telecoms through cutting-edge technology and customer-centric innovation.
To learn more about Tecnotree’s CX platform, please visit: www.tecnotree.com.
To learn more about the results and winners of The Fast Mode Awards 2025, please visit: www.thefastmode.com/awards/results/solutionprovider.
ABOUT TECNOTREE
Tecnotree is a 5G-ready digital Business Support System (BSS) player, with AI/ML capabilities and multi-cloud extensibility. Tecnotree leads the way on the TM Forum Open API Conformance with 59 certified Open APIs including 9 real-world open APIs, a testament to the company’s commitment to excellence, and continuously striving to deliver differentiated experiences and services to both CSPs and DSPs. Our agile and open-source digital BSS Stack comprises the full range (order-to-cash) of business processes and subscription management for telecom and other digital services industries creating opportunities beyond connectivity. Tecnotree also provides Fintech and B2B2X multi-experience digital marketplace to its subscriber base through the Tecnotree Moments platform to empower digitally connected communities across gaming, health, education, OTT, and other vertical ecosystems. Tecnotree is listed on the Helsinki Nasdaq (TEM1V). For more information, please visit our website www.tecnotree.com or social media channels – Linkedin I Facebook I Twitter.
Tecnotree Emerges as CX Catalyst Winner for Impact at The Fast Mode Awards 2025
