Tipsheet

Sen. Alex Padilla Gets Dragged for Sharing a Letter From Detained Migrant Child

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  February 11, 2026 9:30 AM

Democrats need to pick a lane. Either it's bad that President Trump's immigration policies are "separating families" or it's bad that families get detained and deported together. They can't have it both ways, no matter how hard they try. When DHS held five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father (who had abandoned the boy trying to flee ICE), a judge ordered them released.

Now Sen. Alex Padilla is sharing a letter reportedly from a nine-year-old girl who has been detained for 50 days.

The letter reads:

Hello, my name is Susej F and I am 9 years old. I am from Venezuela. I have been 50 days in Dilley Immigration Processing Center. And I want to go to my country. But I miss my school and my friends. I feel bad since when I came here to this place, because I have been here too long. I have been 2 years and 6 months in the United States, and I was happy with my friends in the school but now I need to leave. I miss my family in my country so now I want to go to Venezuela. But my mom do not want to leave because she wants a better future for me.

To this writer, that letter either looks fake or coached, but that's just her opinion. There are things, like the large text and correct spelling of "Dilley Immigrant Processing Center" that are raising red flags.

Yeah, this is on her parents for coming here illegally.

The Democrats never play the "separated families" card when an American goes to prison for crimes.

The entire post reads:

But suddenly when it involves immigration enforcement… the narrative changes and enforcement becomes “heartless”?

Law enforcement doesn’t separate families for entertainment… it happens because adults made decisions that triggered legal consequences.Where are the emotional posts for children affected when parents are jailed for violent crime?

Where are the viral threads when kids enter foster care because of criminal behavior unrelated to immigration?

Selective compassion isn’t compassion… it’s political framing.

If the goal is protecting children… then the real question is:

Why is accountability treated differently depending on the political narrative?

Because it's (D)ifferent when they do it.

Every single one.

"Laws don't matter if a nine-year-old makes me sad" is a heck of a way to govern, Democrats.

Democrats never hold people accountable.

It's sad that this girl's parents chose to come here and remain here illegally. It's sad their choices mean she's going back to Venezuela. But we have immigration laws for a reason, and they must be enforced.