Judge Blocks Trump’s Bid to End Child Detention Policy Seen as Fueling Illegal Immigration

The Trump administration blames the decades-old policy for incentivizing families to cross with children so that they will be released quickly.

Border Patrol apprehends illegal immigrants who have just crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico near McAllen, Texas, on April 18, 2019. Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times

A federal judge has rejected the Trump administration’s effort to end a decades-old settlement that sets standards for the treatment of children in immigration custody, rebuffing the government’s arguments that the agreement obstructs its crackdown on illegal immigration.

District Judge Dolly Gee of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California said in an Aug. 15 order that the administration had not shown grounds to terminate the Flores Settlement Agreement (FSA), first signed in 1997, which limits how long and under what conditions children can be held in Border Patrol facilities.

Government lawyers argued in court filings in May that the pact is an “intrusive regime” that prevents officials from detaining families through the full course of removal proceedings and encourages illegal immigrants to cross the border with children so that they will be released quickly.

“The FSA itself has changed the immigration landscape by removing some of the disincentives for families to enter the U.S. unlawfully,“ they wrote. ”Unlawful family migration barely existed in 1997.”

The FSA requires that minors be transferred out of Border Patrol holding cells within about 72 hours and then placed in licensed shelters or released to family whenever possible. A 2015 court order—also by Gee—extended those rules to children arriving with parents, creating a practical 20-day cap on family detention since the government lacks licensed long-term family facilities. That limit, government attorneys and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have argued, makes it almost impossible to detain family units together for the full length of immigration proceedings, which can stretch for weeks or months.

President Donald Trump sought to end the FSA during his first term but was blocked by Gee in 2019. That effort was revived when he was reelected for a second term, in part on a promise to crack down on illegal immigration. Administration officials have repeatedly blamed the FSA for fueling surges of illegal immigration and have argued that both the DHS and the Health and Human Services Department are currently in “substantial compliance” with the agreement and that “further continuation of the FSA is no longer equitable or in the public interest.”

On Aug. 8, Gee held a hearing with advocates of illegal immigrant children in federal custody and Trump administration attorneys. Advocates urged the judge to keep the FSA in place, pointing to reports of poor conditions in Texas family detention centers and calling for expanded independent monitoring. Government attorneys argued that the FSA hampered the administration’s immigration enforcement efforts, with the judge describing those and other arguments in favor of ending the FSA as “déjà vu.” Her Aug. 15 order echoes that sentiment.

“There is nothing new under the sun regarding the facts or the law,” she wrote, calling the government’s motion a repeat of previous failed attempts.

Gee said that although federal agencies have improved conditions in some facilities, “to suggest that the agreement should be abandoned because some progress has been made is nonsensical.”

Gee’s ruling leaves the Flores settlement in place, meaning that the Trump administration remains bound by the 72-hour transfer rule and 20-day limit on family detention.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement that the FSA contributes to illegal immigration and the Trump administration’s legal challenge aims to bolster border security.

“For years, the Flores consent decree has been a tool of the left to promote an open borders agenda,” McLaughlin said. “It is long overdue for a single district in California to stop managing the Executive Branch’s immigration functions. The Trump administration is committed to restoring common sense to our immigration system.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.