Flores Counsel Fight to Defend Immigrant Children from Government Efforts to Dismantle Court-Ordered Protections

Motion opposes the Trump administration’s attempt to end the Flores Settlement Agreement, warning of devastating consequences for children in custody

LOS ANGELES — On Friday, Flores Counsel filed an opposition to the federal government’s motion to terminate the Flores Settlement Agreement (FSA), the landmark court order that protects immigrant children from prolonged detention and inhumane conditions while in federal custody.

The brief, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, provides stark and recent evidence that ending Flores would inflict lasting trauma on children in federal custody by stripping away the only enforceable safeguards for their health and safety, and opening the door to indefinite detention in harsh, prison-like family detention facilities. The government’s ongoing failure to meet the agreement’s basic legal requirements makes it clear that internal agency policies are no substitute for court-enforced standards.

• “I’m not really hungry that much any more. I eat less than before. I feel really sad and angry all the time. I don’t want to die here. And I don’t want to live here either.” — 13-year-old child, detained in an ICE Family Detention Center
• “Before coming into this interview, the Karnes staff who brought me told me not to say anything and to only answer basic things. They do not want people to know how they are treating us. I am afraid for when the lawyers leave, because the staff will go back to treating us poorly again.” — Mother of 12-year-old, detained in an ICE Family Detention Center

Approved in 1997, the Flores Settlement requires that children be held in licensed, child-appropriate facilities and released to family members or guardians as quickly as possible. Under the terms of the settlement, Flores co-counsel are permitted to visit detention sites where children are being held and hear directly from them about their treatment and the duration of their detention. The agreement remains one of the only legal tools to prevent the long-term incarceration of children. Child psychologists have long warned that detention of even two weeks can have severe developmental and health consequences that can last a lifetime.

Yet the federal government now seeks to dismantle this critical agreement without fulfilling its legal obligations. The motion recycles arguments that have been rejected repeatedly by the courts, including the Ninth Circuit, and ignores harrowing eye-witness accounts from parents and children describing brutal conditions for accompanied and unaccompanied children alike who are being detained for increasingly longer periods of time – and treated with disdain in overcrowded, unsanitary, and prison-like conditions, with no access to adequate medical care or timely release.  

Ending Flores would throw open the door to even greater harm, allowing unsafe and traumatic conditions to worsen and children to be imprisoned indefinitely. A hearing on the government’s motion is expected in July.

“Our government has shown us time and again it cannot be trusted to protect the rights of children in its custody,” said Leecia Welch, Deputy Litigation Director at Children’s Rights. “At this very moment hundreds of terrified children and families are being held in a family detention facility in Dilley, Texas. Children are having nightmares, loss of appetite, and worsening health conditions. They have little to do, and toys are in short supply. Children are hungry, sleep-deprived, bored, and hopeless. Mothers have to beg for diapers, watch as their children lose weight and deteriorate from the stress, and do much of the parenting alone because fathers are separated at night and much of the day. Flores is the only line of defense between these kids and an administration that wants to lock them up like criminals.”

“Flores remains a crucial lifeline for the immigrant children and families currently imprisoned by the federal government,” said Sergio Perez, Executive Director, Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law. “Without it, already deplorable conditions and lengths of stay will inevitably worsen — resulting in more cruel, lasting mistreatment of a vulnerable community. Flores also brings much-needed sunlight and accountability to places that are often outside the reach of the public and their awareness — it is a settlement that, sadly, is more necessary than ever.”

“For decades, the Flores Settlement has provided children in government custody with basic protections. In the dozens of interviews I’ve done with detained children, one thing is consistent — these brave children want nothing more than the opportunity to grow up safely with family,” said Mishan Wroe, Directing Attorney at the National Center for Youth Law. “We will continue fighting to ensure the government upholds its responsibility to treat the children it chooses to detain with dignity and care.”

### 

The Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law (CHRCL) is a legal non-profit committed to protecting and advancing the rights of immigrants through legal action, advocacy, and education. Through impact litigation, we challenge unlawful immigration policies to drive systemic change and establish stronger legal protections for immigrants. At the local, state, and federal levels, we advocate for fair and humane policies that uphold the rights of all immigrants. For more information, please visit https://www.centerforhumanrights.org/.

The National Center for Youth Law centers youth through research, community collaboration, impact litigation, and policy advocacy that fundamentally transforms our nation's approach to education, health, immigration, foster care, and youth justice. Attorneys and advocates with the National Center for Youth Law have direct access to children and families in immigration custody, due to the organization's role as Flores counsel. This has allowed NCYL attorneys to witness, up-close, the harm the current immigration system continues to inflict on children and their families. 

Children’s Rights is a national advocacy organization dedicated to improving the lives of children living in or impacted by America’s child welfare, juvenile legal, immigration, education, and healthcare systems. We use civil rights impact litigation and policy expertise to hold governments accountable for keeping kids safe and healthy. Our work centers on creating systemic change that will advance the rights of children for generations. For more information, please visit childrensrights.org.