https://www.texastribune.org/2026/03/11/el-gamal-texas-egyptian-family-dilley-health-care-food-ice-detention-letters-children/
"... These are among the exclusive accounts from an Egyptian family imprisoned at the nations only family detention center for more than nine months, believed to be the longest held in that South Texas facility during President Donald Trumps second administration. The declarations, which span 59 pages, include hand-written letters and pictures drawn by the five children. They were first obtained by The Texas Tribune before lawyers submit them to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary Wednesday.
Taken together, the familys accounts provide what lawyers and child advocates call new and disturbing details into the conditions at the detention center in Dilley, about 70 miles southwest of San Antonio. The family, including the mother Hayam El Gamal and her five children ranging in ages from 5 to 18, detail what they describe as abhorrent medical care, inedible food and a disregard for their religious freedom as Muslims.
The family was detained after the father, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, was charged with attacking mostly Jewish protestors at a Boulder, Colo., event last June, accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at demonstrators supporting Israeli hostages. He allegedly wounded at least 29 people and an 82-year-old woman died from her injuries. The father, who has pleaded innocent, remains in federal custody on more than 100 charges related to the incident.
His wife, who wrote that she met her husband through an arranged marriage, and their children have repeatedly denied knowledge of his attack. They have consistently said that the father was emotionally and physically absent and barely spoke to them. The family has since disavowed the father and is no longer in contact with him, their attorney said. We are six innocent people, including 5-years-old twins, trapped in a nightmare we didnt create, wrote Habiba El Gamal, the 18-year-old daughter..."