Immigrant children are being routinely and forcibly given a range of psychotropic drugs at U.S. detention centers to manage their trauma after being detained and separated from parents, Reuters reports, citing a recently filed lawsuit.

Children being held at a number of facilities, including the Shiloh Treatment Center in Texas, are being administered drugs without their parents’ permission, according to the filing from the Center for Human Rights & Constitutional Law.

Some children at Shiloh reported being given up to nine different pills in the morning and six in the evening and said they were told they would remain detained if they refused drugs, the lawsuit said.

It added carers had forcibly held them down and given them an injection if they did not take the drugs.

“If you’re in Shiloh then it’s almost certain you are on these medications. So if any child were placed in Shiloh after being separated from a parent, then they’re almost certainly on psychotropics,” said Carlos Holguin, a lawyer representing the Center for Human Rights & Constitutional Law.

Taking multiple psychotropic drugs at the same time can seriously injure children, according to the filing, which highlights the need for oversight to prevent medications being used as “chemical straight jackets,” rather than treat actual mental health needs.

The centers unilaterally administer the drugs to children in disregard of laws in Texas and other states that require either a parent’s consent or a court order, the filing said.

One mother said neither she nor any other family member had been consulted about medication given to her daughter, even though Shiloh had their contact details. Another mother said her daughter received such powerful anti-anxiety medications she collapsed several times, according to the filing.

The Shiloh center did not respond immediately to a request for comment. Officials at the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which oversees such centers, were not immediately available for comment. ShareTweet