Judge ends protections for migrant kids
A federal judge has granted the Biden administration’s request to repeal a 1997 legal agreement, known as the Flores settlement, that required the government to place immigrant youths in a licensed state facility before releasing them to a parent or guardian.
The settlement, in a suit filed in 1985 by Jenny Flores, a 15year-old girl who had fled El Salvador, requires immigration officials to place unaccompanied minors in the “least restrictive setting available” and release them “without unnecessary delay” to a parent, adult relative or guardian, while immigration courts decide whether they can remain in the country.
About 7,700 youngsters are now held in those facilities, for an average of about a month before release, according to federal agencies, although some are detained for months before a parent or guardian can be located.
President Donald Trump’s administration sought to end the Flores settlement in 2019, contending it had become unworkable because of an influx of immigrants at the Mexican border. U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee of Los Angeles disagreed and left the settlement in effect.
The settlement was not intended to be permanent, however, and President Joe Biden’s administration moved to terminate it last October, saying the youths would be adequately protected by new federal regulations.
The action was one of several Biden has taken since Republicans and foes of immigration started accusing him of an open-border policy amid an increase in undocumented entries. Last month the administration banned political asylum — the right to remain in the U.S. for those who face political persecution in their homeland — for most migrants who had crossed the southern border without authorization, and said immigration officers could deport them without a hearing.
In the case in Gee’s court, immigrants’ rights advocates said the youths had lost important protections in 2021 when Texas and Florida — which between them are home to about 60% of the minors held in state custody after entering the U.S. — ended licensing requirements for the custodial facilities.
Those facilities still hold the youths for a month or longer, but are no longer subject to state licensing regulations. Those include monitoring and periodic visits by an independent overseer, who can shut down noncompliant operations.
Gee, however, said she accepted the states’ assurances that they have continued to monitor the facilities, and the Biden administration’s argument that new nationwide regulations would provide increased and adequate protection.
California and several other states still require licenses for state facilities temporarily housing immigrant youths.
Under federal law, the Department of Health and Human Services has a “duty to promptly place unaccompanied children in the least restrictive setting that is in the best interest of the child,” Gee wrote. Her ruling took effect this month and replaces the Flores settlement with the new federal regulations.
Lawyers for the youths said Monday they would also monitor the facilities and report any mistreatment to federal officials. But they said they fear protections will weaken under the new regulations, even more so if Trump returns to office.
“Texas and Florida are playing politics with the lives of detained immigrant children seeking refuge in this country,” said attorney Mishan Wroe of the National Center for Youth Law. She said federal officials had a duty to replace the protections that Texas and Florida have withdrawn, but “instead, they moved prematurely to terminate the settlement before they had a real solution in place.”
Attorney Leecia Welch of the advocacy group Children’s Rights said she has met with hundreds of youths in immigration custody during the past eight years, and if the American people could see what she and a colleague have seen, “they would understand why children in government facilities need independent monitors looking out for them.” If government officials “fail to provide adequate safeguards as ordered by Judge Gee,” Welch said, “we will be back in court.”
The White House and the Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to requests for comment.