NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A US judge has said rules issued by the Trump administration for the detention of immigrant children are inconsistent with a longstanding agreement that lays out conditions for their custody.
U.S. District Court Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles on Friday told government lawyers she did not see how their rules adhered to a 1997 settlement that applies to all minors and that she must apply basic contract law.The Flores Agreement sets standards across the board for the treatment of unaccompanied migrant children, from housing to medical care as well as education, nutrition and hygiene.
The administration contends the 1997 agreement should be terminated since authorities have since issued new rules for custody conditions for children caught on the border.
But immigrant and youth advocates say the rules fail to honor the settlement terms and would let the U.S. government keep children locked up indefinitely and in facilities that aren't licensed by the state.
The rules are one of a series of measures taken by the administration to crack down on asylum seekers on the Southwest border.
In recent rulings, Judge Dolly Gee also effectively prohibited the government from detaining families apprehended with children for more than 20 days.Attorneys outside the courthouse in Los Angeles welcomed Gee's decision to preserve the landmark 1997 settlement.The preliminary decision was provided just to attorneys working the case Friday, but a final ruling is expected to be issued in the near future, according to attorney Carlos Holguin.Federal officials that deal with unaccompanied migrant children criticized the Flores Agreement and the government claimed that immigration has changed in the 22 years since the Flores Agreement was first established.
In briefs filed for Judge Gee, argued that the agreement itself led to an increase in children and families coming to the U.S.Lawyers opposing the government action wrote that the government was attempting to "light a match" to the Flores Agreement with a "dizzying array" of claims about migrant children and families that federal courts had already rejected.In the brief, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, attorneys cited experts who said in attached declarations that complex, local socioeconomic factors such as gang violence, extreme poverty and local government corruption cause families with kids or children traveling without families to uproot their lives."She did not hide her complete disregard for their failed attempts to withdraw from this settlement," said Desai, the director of Immigration for the National Center for Youth Law about Gee.Desai and Holguin said they expect the government to appeal the ruling."We know the fight's not over, and we're here to defend the Flores Agreement to wherever it goes, and whatever it takes," Desai said.