A nine-year-old girl traveling to Walt Disney World Resort was detained by ICE and held for over 113 days at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas.
ProPublica published handwritten letters from children detained at the facility on February 9, including one from Maria Antonia Guerra Montoya. The child wrote that she was traveling with a flight attendant to visit her mother in New York and planned a 10-day Disney Park vacation when immigration officers intercepted her.
Child's Letter Details Detention Experience
@ProPublica shared the letter on X (formerly Twitter), noting the extended detention period:
6/ ‘When I arrived every night I cried and now I don't sleep well, I felt that being here was my fault and I only wanted to be on vacation like a normal family.' 9-year-old Maria Antonia Guerra Montoya, detained on her way to Disney World, spent 113+ days at Dilley.
6/ “When I arrived every night I cried and now I don’t sleep well, I felt that being here was my fault and I only wanted to be on vacation like a normal family.”
9-year-old Maria Antonia Guerra Montoya, detained on her way to Disney World, spent 113+ days at Dilley. pic.twitter.com/ajnCopTnxY
— ProPublica (@propublica) February 9, 2026
The letter, translated from Spanish, includes drawings of herself and another detained child alongside sad faces and broken hearts:
“I am Maria Antonia Guerra Montoya and I have been 113 days in detention I miss my friends and I feel they are going to forget me. I am bored here. I already miss my country and my house, I came on vacation for 10 Days and they took me into an ice office an officer interrogated me 2 hours without my mom, I was traveling with flight attendant because my mom lives in new york, they only wanted to arrest my mom, because my mom didn't have documents to live in U.S.A., I always traveled with my tourist visa but ice used me to catch my mom and now I am in a jail and I am sad and I have fainted 2 times here inside. When I arrived every night I cried and now I don't sleep well, I felt that being here was my fault and I only wanted to be on vacation like a normal family.
They don't give me my diet I am vegetarian, I don't eat well, there is no good education and I miss my best friend julieta and my grandmother and my school I already want to get to my house.
Me in dilei [Dilley] am not happy please get me out of here to colombia”
The Department of Homeland Security denied allegations of inadequate care at Dilley. Officials stated that no detainees were denied medical treatment and that children have access to “teachers, classrooms, and curriculum booklets for math, reading, and spelling.” DHS claimed staff at the facility provide “the highest standard of care.”
New ICE Facility Near Walt Disney World
The letter's publication follows the recent opening of an ICE detention center near Walt Disney World Resort. Despite local protests, lawmakers were unable to prevent the construction of the facility, which can hold hundreds of detainees.
Do you agree with Walt Disney World Resort's decision to stay quiet about ICE activity nearby? Share your opinion with Disney Fanatic in the comments.
This case is a shame, but if some is Illegal, then they are Illegal.
There is no excuse for an exemption for the law.
Democrati and Republican COntrolled Congresses have had DECADES to change Immigation Laws, but have refused.
The new ICE actions have brought their inaction into view.
People of all ages who are Illegal are subject to detention and deportation.
Obey the law . . . there are ways to lrgally enter the country.
Tough to say, but BE LEGAL OR BE GONE.
Why should Disney get involved? It is an entertainment park, not political. When they have spoken up in the past about other political issues, they have been punished. This whole ICE situation is a mess and is dividing our country. Innocent people are being detained and killed. I want this whole thing to go away.
Maybe I am missing a piece of crucial info. Was the child traveling from Colombia to New York with a flight attendant as her guardian? Did a flight attendant take her on a 10-day vacation to Disney? That is bizarre.
This letter also doesn’t sound like it was written by a 9-yr old.