Joe Biden Faces Criticism as 2023 Death of 8-Year-Old in Custody Resurfaces

Warning: The following story details the death of a minor. Reader discretion is advised. In sharing an image of an 8-year-old girl who died in government custody in 2023, the official X account of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats unintentionally subjected former U.S. President Joe Biden to significant criticism. Amid United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations to apprehend and detain illegal criminal aliens, as well as nationwide anti-ICE protests, the Senate Judiciary Democrats shared an image on social media. The photo showed Anadith Danay Reyes Álvarez, an 8-year-old with sickle cell and congenital heart disease. Álvarez, her parents, and her two older siblings crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in March 2023 and were arrested by Customs and Border Protection. Her parents allege that the detention facility staff repeatedly declined to take her to the hospital despite frequent reports of pain from her conditions. The family filed a $15 million federal wrongful death lawsuit against the ICE, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and CBP. “We need to reform immigration detention,” the Senate Judiciary Democrats account wrote in a post that had over 4 million views as of Wednesday morning.

Anadith Danay Reyes Álvarez died in government custody.

She had sickle cell and congenital heart disease but couldn’t access timely and adequate medical care. We need to reform immigration detention. pic.twitter.com/dDsjHeql49 — Senate Judiciary Democrats 🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryDems) January 27, 2026

The issue, as X users immediately pointed out, is that Álvarez died in government custody during the Biden administration. By taking a veiled shot at the Trump administration, the Senate Judiciary Democrats inadvertently placed Biden and his administration under scrutiny. Although much of the response on X was insensitive and not worth referencing, two major points emerged:

• The Senate Judiciary Democrats should not have cited Álvarez’s death when it occurred under the Biden administration. 
• The Senate Judiciary Democrats should not have used the death of a minor in the context that they did.

A U.S. government official later told CBS News that Álvarez’s death likely could have been prevented had she been treated differently. That admission came in July 2023, two months after Álvarez’s death and more than a year before former President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem began mounting increased operations to apprehend illegal aliens. “Not about Democrat or Republican/left or right,” wrote Andrew Bates, who served as the Senior Deputy Press Secretary during Biden’s final months in office. “Just absolutely wrong.”

Not about Democrat or Republican/left or right. Just absolutely wrong. https://t.co/kdUDsJD8xI

— Andrew Bates (@AndrewBatesNC) January 27, 2026

Most direct replies on X criticized Biden and the Senate Judiciary Democrats, though many quoted posts instead focused their frustration on DHS, ICE and both political parties. The lawsuit alleges that the government — under the Biden administration — knew about and enabled the facility's unsanitary and unsafe conditions. “This was completely preventable, and they just let this child die,” read one quoted comment. “Both parties have blood on their hands because they continue funding this. It doesn’t need to be reformed; it needs to be abolished.” Neither Biden nor then-Vice President Kamala Harris had addressed the post or the subsequent backlash as of publication.