Judge Tells Feds to Abide by 20-Year Deal on Treatment of Detained Immigrant Kids

[riversedge]

Judge Tells Feds to Abide by 20-Year Deal on Treatment of Detained Immigrant Kids


https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-tells-feds-to-abide-by-20-year-deal-on-treatment-of-detained-immigrant-kids/
April 24, 2020 MARTIN MACIAS JR

Immigrant children play outside a former Job Corps site that now houses them in Homestead, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

LOS ANGELES (CN) — A federal judge in Los Angeles said Friday the risk of Covid-19 spreading in immigrant detention facilities requires the government to adhere to a longstanding settlement requiring prompt release of immigrant youth from custody.

The landmark 1997 Flores settlement sets national standards for the detention, release and treatment of all immigrant children in federal custody, such as requiring their release to guardians or placement in facilities within 5 to 20 days of detention.

Youths who have sponsors should be released to them without unnecessary delay, unless they’re deemed flight risks, or released to state-licensed care facilities, according to the settlement.

But detention settings amid the coronavirus outbreak places immigrant youths at risk of exposure to the virus, attorneys for class members of the settlement said in March 26 ex parte papers seeking a preliminary injunction allowing for immediate release of the youth.

The motion said youths held in congregate settings are exposed to “the clear and present danger the Covid-19 pandemic poses to their safety and well-being.”

The fact that immigrant youths detained by the Office of Refugee Resettlement or Immigration and Customs Enforcement can’t practice physical distancing guidelines established by health experts is a violation of the settlement, attorneys for children said in briefs.

The spread of Covid-19 in facilities for immigrant youth is not speculative, the attorneys said, adding that detained children in ORR’s MercyFirst and Abbott House facilities in New York have been infected.

U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee said in a March 28 order that the federal government had not done enough to ensure detained youth were safe from infection and that agencies failed to promptly release immigrant children from facilities in light of the pandemic.
.....................

[riversedge]

1. Gee's order applies to more than 3,400 immigrant children in facilities operated by ORR and hundreds

Goodness, ICE has a whole lot of kids locked up.


Gee’s order applies to more than 3,400 immigrant children in facilities operated by ORR and hundreds more operated by ICE.................................

[lark]

2. It will go to SCOTUS who will rule that they have no rights to life, they aren't Americans!

EVerything drumpf touches dies and his ugly fat tiny fingers have been all over immigration.

[secondwind]

3. This is what Obama was doing.

Trump supporters like to say “Obama did this too”. I never let this go unanswered. Yes, he put them there temporarily, WHILE HE SEARCHED FOR THEIR RELATIVES in the U S

[2naSalit]

4. K&R!!