Rep. Joaquin Castro posted a video on X inviting President Trump to the Dilley detention center southwest of San Antonio ahead of the president’s planned visit to the city on Wednesday. In the post, the Texas Democrat said Trump should face children held at the facility, which Castro referred to as the Dilley Trailer Prison, and asked whether the president could tell them they deserve to be there. Online replies largely pushed back, with many users saying the children were there because of their parents’ decisions.
In the footage, Castro stands outdoors with a microphone near musical equipment and addresses the camera. He says, “President Trump, you’re coming to San Antonio. I would invite you to go to Dilley to see what Stephen Miller, who sits with you in the White House, has done to these children, to see the lifelong, lasting trauma he’s caused to these kids.” He adds that he would “bet that the president has never been into a detention center, this trailer prison where kids are held.” The video does not show the facility or any children.
Castro continues, “If you can’t stand there and go inside and look in the eyes of these kids and tell them that even though they’ve done nothing wrong, that they belong there, just because of where they were born, just because of the color of their skin, just because of the language that they speak, then you don’t deserve to be president of the United States.”
According to the post, the remarks concern the Dilley site southwest of San Antonio; local reporting has identified it as the South Texas Family Residential Center, which Castro has visited repeatedly and described as a trailer prison. The clip itself does not independently confirm those earlier accounts.
How Viewers Are Responding to the Dilley Invitation
Some replies rejected Castro’s framing and placed responsibility on parents. One user wrote, “You should be blaming the Dems. President Trump is simply cleaning up their mess.”
Another said, “Trump traumatized these kids? I think their parents are responsible… Parents made bad choices. Keep the blame where it belongs.”
A third replied, “Yes, the president can look into innocent children’s eyes and tell them that the reason they’re there is because of their parents.”
Other comments focused on the law or on Castro himself. One user asked, “Can we have their parents present also so we can explain to the kiddos how their parents broke the Law,” while another wrote, “You might want to ask the kids’ PARENTS why they dragged their kids along.”
A smaller set of replies sided with the challenge to Trump, including one that said, “Trump will look in their eyes with that crooked smile and say I don’t care! Bc he’s trash!”
For now, the invitation sits alongside Castro’s earlier visits to the Dilley site and Trump’s planned stop in San Antonio. Online, the exchange has become one more point in a wider argument over who bears responsibility for children held at the facility.
