An immigrant father and autistic son want to be with their Glen Ellyn family. They face deportation

Steven, a 14-year-old Venezuelan boy with autism, is reliving a nightmare.

He and his father, Victor Romero Martinez, crossed the border into the United States from Mexico in May 2025, hoping to reunite with his mother in suburban Glen Ellyn.

They were detained by Border Patrol agents and spent 70 days at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, a detention center that holds immigrant families, before being granted parole in August 2025.

When Steven, whose last name is being withheld to protect his privacy, and Romero Martinez, 52, were released, they began the slow process of rebuilding their lives. After months in detention, they settled into a routine — Steven was attending school — and started to recover from the trauma of confinement.

But in December, they were forced back into detention in Texas. Steven is now among many children detained at the facility, where he and others struggled to get adequate care despite a decades-old policy that generally bars children from being held for extended periods of time.

Now his mother, who did not want to be named for fear of compromising her immigration status, and their lawyer are fighting an uphill battle to keep them from being deported.

“He was just starting to thrive, and it’s like they cut off his wings,” Steven’s mother said.

A brief reunion

Steven’s mother and older brother fled Venezuela in 2022, fearing political persecution. She had worked as an administrative manager for former Gov. Manuel Rosales, and after he lost an election to the ruling party, she feared for her life and left the country.

She decided to leave Steven with his father until he was a bit older and had made more progress managing his autism.

As soon as they could, she said, they followed her to the U.S., also seeking asylum.

“I couldn’t handle being away from them anymore,” said Steven’s mother, who now works as a delivery driver and is the family’s sole provider.

But Steven’s mental health deteriorated in those first 70 days at the Dilley facility, she said. He became withdrawn, lost his appetite and struggled with the loud noises around him, to which he is especially sensitive.

Experts say children with autism can be particularly vulnerable to sudden, unpredictable changes in their lives and may also have difficulty communicating their thoughts and feelings.

“He’s a shy boy, and when he’s stressed and anxious he stops speaking,” his mother said.

Romero Martinez and Steven were released in August, and filed a petition for asylum. Arriving in Glen Ellyn offered a chance for recovery. Steven was welcomed into the community with open arms, his mother said. He enrolled in the eighth grade and was beginning to adapt. He even began to thrive.

Bob Bruno, a school board member at Glen Ellyn School District 41, said the 14-year-old’s teachers noticed his progress.

“They saw a student who loved being in school,” Bruno said. “They saw a student who was making friends. They saw a student who was learning and eager to be in the classroom, ...who built relationships with his teachers, and also was embraced by classmates.”

But in October, the father and son’s petition for asylum was denied.

Romero Marinez was told to bring his son with him to an immigration “check in” appointment on Dec. 17. When they arrived, they were placed in custody — a tactic immigration authorities have used to detain undocumented immigrants who have pending asylum cases.

Since returning to Dilley, Steven has been sick and again stopped eating, his mother said. He’s with his dad and is now on the mend, but isn’t the same happy boy he was a few weeks ago.

Steven’s mother sends them money for snacks and phone calls, but said she feels “helpless” not knowing when she’ll be able to hear her son’s voice or if she’ll ever see him again.

“I know they’re not OK,” she said. “My son isn’t OK.”

‘They treat animals better than they do people here.’

A report from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released last month found that 400 immigrant children were held in custody longer than 20 days in August and September, outside the federal standard set in 1997 for how children can be treated in immigration detention. ICE told the court the problem was widespread and not limited to any single region or facility. The agency said prolonged detentions were largely due to transportation delays, medical needs and legal processing.

But the South Texas Family Residential Center, operated by Tennessee-based prison company CoreCivic, has been the subject of ongoing controversy. Attorneys for detainees there have raised concerns about prolonged detention of immigrant children, contaminated food, lack of access to medical care and inadequate legal counsel. In a court declaration reviewed by The Marshall Project, one mother called the Dilley facility “a jail for children.”

“They treat animals better than they do people here,” Romero Martinez told Steven’s mother during a phone conversation.

Last week, Steven’s mother said she got a call from Steven, who said he met a new boy inside the facility: Liam Conejo Ramos, a 5-year-old from Ecuador who was taken by federal agents in Minnesota as he was arriving home from preschool.

“He called and said, ‘Mom, there’s a little boy here, his name is Liam.’” Steven’s mom said she immediately knew who he was.

And like Steven, Liam’s mental health has suffered. After visiting the Dilley facility, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, posted updates on Instagram, saying Liam has been “depressed and sad” and showing the boy sleeping in his father’s arms.

Castro and other lawmakers say more than 1,000 people are in custody at the facility.

“It's not fair that those innocent children are being subjected to this, because they are innocent,” Steven’s mother said. “I wonder what mental and psychological harm they are inflicting on those children, who probably don't even know where they are or what’s going on.”

Detainees mounted a protest from inside the facility Jan. 24. Aerial photos taken by The Associated Press showed children and parents at the facility clad in jackets and sweaters, some of them holding signs that included “Libertad para los niños,” or “Liberty for the kids.” Protesters clashed with police outside the facility this week as they called for Liam and his father’s release.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment. In a statement posted online last week, the department said, “All detainees are provided with 3 meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, and toiletries,” and that it takes its responsibility to take care of children seriously. 

CoreCivic referred questions about the facility to DHS, but noted that all of its facilities “are subject to multiple layers of oversight and are monitored very closely by our government partners to ensure full compliance with policies and procedures, including any applicable detention standards.”

An ongoing fight for asylum

Steven and Romero Martinez’s case is challenging, according to immigration attorney Ericka McFee.

When McFee heard about Steven and Romero Martinez’s situation, she got in touch with their family and began working to get them released.

So far, most of her efforts have been unsuccessful.

Federal officials and an immigration judge all denied her attempts to secure their release through a credible fear interview, which is an initial screening that determines whether an asylum seeker faces a credible risk of persecution. McFee said she also petitioned for Steven and his father to be released because of Steven’s autism, but the judge dismissed the argument, responding with “so what?” before denying their release.

Steven has not received any care for his autism while in detention and has suffered panic attacks during his time in the facility, his mother said.

Now McFee said she’s working on filing a temporary restraining order to stop their deportation and is filing another application for asylum.

The stakes are high. Steven was born in Venezuela, but because Romero Martinez is Colombian, immigration authorities designated Colombia as the country the two would be removed to, “no matter what nationality Steven is,” McFee said. That’s despite Steven’s mother and Romero Martinez starting their family in Venezuela and living there for years.

“It's just really tough to know that we're doing our best, and knowing that there's still a chance that they'll still say no and still try to deport people, and knowing that that puts our clients back in danger,” McFee said.

In the weeks since he was detained, Steven’s absence has shaken his community.

Bruno, the school board member, called ICE’s actions “reprehensible” and said Steven “deserved to return to the classroom where he belongs.”

Bruno reached out to the office of U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., who said she has been working on the case for more than 30 days and said Steven and Romero Martinez were “blindsided” by their detention.

“Victor and Steven belong with their loved ones and their community in Glen Ellyn,” Ramirez said. “Instead, today they are detained by ICE in Texas, where Steven’s condition deteriorates due to the inhumane conditions, the fear of deportation and the trauma of family separation.”

“I have repeatedly reiterated my expectation that ICE respects due process in their cases and, given the humanitarian concerns, I have also requested all due consideration be given to Steven and Victor’s release,” she said.

Steven’s mother said her son deserves the chance to live a happy, normal childhood, but instead has been swept up in the current administration’s immigration enforcement.

"It's been over a year since that little boy has known what happiness is,” she said. “This has been a very hard blow for everyone.”