If We Won’t Protect the Most Vulnerable… Who Will?
- Shannon Brown
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
If This Is True, We Cannot Stay Silent
It’s getting harder and harder to know what is real anymore. Every day, we scroll through headlines, posts, and video, each one louder, more urgent, more overwhelming than the last. Somewhere in all of that noise, the truth can feel blurred.
But sometimes… something stops you. Sometimes something hits your heart in a way you can’t ignore.T hat’s what happened when I saw the reports being shared about children in the Dilley Immigration Detention Center, highlighted by Ms. Rachel and said to come from court filings.
And I keep thinking: Please don’t let this be true.
Because if it is…How are we letting this happen?
These are some of the reported examples:
A 10-year-old child with a serious medical condition was left without proper care and diet—resulting in no bowel movements for over a month.
A 13-year-old girl reportedly tried to harm herself with a plastic knife after guards took away her drawing materials—and was then placed in isolation without seeing a doctor.
Children are said to be regressing, chewing their nails, wetting the bed again, and deteriorating psychologically.
Families have reported that food has been contaminated with worms and mold, leaving children sick and vomiting repeatedly.
Some were told they could only receive medical attention if vomiting reached a certain number of times.
Babies and toddlers are reportedly constantly hungry due to a lack of appropriate food.
Staff have been accused of laughing at children’s pain, threatening family separation, and treating them “like animals.”
One child was described as having scratch marks across her entire body due to untreated allergies and lack of proper care.
Let that sink in.
These are not just headlines.
These are not just stories.
These are children.
As a survivor of childhood abuse, I don’t read things like this from a distance. I feel it. Deeply.
My heart hurts for these children in a way that is hard to put into words. Because I remember what it felt like to be small… to be scared… to need help and not receive it. To not have a voice. No child should ever have to live like that.
Not in a home.
Not in a school.
Not in a system that is supposed to protect them.
Not anywhere.
And this is where we have to stop pretending this is about politics. Because it’s not. This is about humanity.
If even a fraction of these reports are true, then we are failing the most vulnerable among us in ways that are deeply harmful—physically, emotionally, and psychologically.
And we cannot stay silent. Because silence is what allows harm to continue. I know that firsthand. Silence protects systems.
Silence protects abusers.
Silence protects comfort.
But it does not protect children.
I understand the hesitation. We want to be sure. We don’t want to spread misinformation. We don’t want to get it wrong. But there is also danger in doing nothing. In looking away. In scrolling past.
In telling ourselves someone else will speak up.
Because what if this is real? What if there are children right now—hurting, scared, sick, and alone—waiting for someone to care enough to say something?
We say we want to protect children. But protecting children means showing up when it’s uncomfortable. It means asking hard questions. It means refusing to look away. Because children cannot advocate for themselves in systems like this.
We are their voices.
And if we won’t protect the most vulnerable…
Who will?
So no, I don’t have every answer.
But I have a voice.
And if there is even a chance that this is happening, I will not stay silent.
I can’t.
💜 Speak up
💜 Ask questions
💜 Demand accountability
💜 Protect children—all children
💜 Learn more about the Survivors' Anthem Series
💜 Join the movement and learn about The Jane Project
💜 Get your copy of Because of Jane
👉 What are your thoughts? Let’s talk, respectfully, honestly, and with children at the center.