A judge stopped the Trump administration’s attempt to end the Flores Agreement and allow prolonged detention of migrant families with children in licensed facilities.
On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Dolly M. Gee rejected the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Health and Humans Services’ (HHS) final rule to terminate the Flores Agreement. The departments’ primary objective is to prevent influx of unaccompanied migrant children and family units crossing the border into the United States.
Judge says Flores Agreement is “binding contract and consent decree”
In her ruling, Judge Gee noted that the “throughout several presidential administrations,” the Flores Agreement “has been necessary relevant, and critical to the public interest in maintaining standards for the detention and release of minors arriving at the United States’ borders.”
She found that the DHS and HHS’ final rule violates the terms of the Flores Agreement, which sets standards for the detention and release of unaccompanied children under immigration custody.
