|
Los Angeles, April 24, 2020
In a significant victory for immigrant children, U.S. District Court Judge Dolly Gee has determined that the federal government has failed to meet its legal obligations to children in immigration custody during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dozens of immigrant children in federal custody across the country have tested positive for COVID-19. The Court Order issued today is available at this link.
Judge Gee supervises the government’s compliance with a settlement reached in 1997 between the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law and the government that sets the national standards on the conditions of minors’ detention and procedures for their prompt release to relatives living in the United States.
In March, the Center, which continues to serve as lead counsel for the class of detained children, filed an emergency motion asking the court to order the prompt release of all detained minors and that the government comply with recommendations issued by the Center for Disease Control for detention facilities. The. Center’s co-counsel are the National Center for Youth Law and the Immigration Law Clinic of the U.C. Davis School of Law.
On March 28 Judge Gee issued an emergency order which she later extended to April 24 requiring the U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) which detains accompanied minors, and Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) which detains unaccompanied minors, to promptly start releasing minors. The Center for Human Rights reports that hundreds of children were released over the past few weeks as a result of the court's temporary restraining orders.
In today’s hearing held by video-conference, Judge Gee found ORR and ICE in violation of the 1997 Flores Settlement and required the government to “make every effort to promptly and safely release” children who have suitable custodians. The court stated that “under the current extraordinary circumstances in the midst of a pandemic,” the government’s obligation to release minors without unnecessary delay requires moving with greater speed to remove minors from congregate environments where a suitable custodian exists.”
Peter Schey, one of the attorneys who filed the original lawsuit in 1986 and continues as co-lead counsel in the case, said in response to the court order: "This court ruling simply requires the government to comply with an agreement it reached with us in 1997 by providing children with safe detention conditions and prompt family reunification with relatives living here. The Trump administration should have taken immediate steps to come into full compliance with the settlement as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic began to threaten the health and well-being of detained children. This ruling may very well prevent detained children from becoming very ill in the coming weeks, or worse dying while in federal custody. ”
The court found that the government violated the Flores settlement by not releasing minors without unnecessary delay, refusing to release minors to some relatives unless the relatives were first fingerprinted, and continuing children in custody even though their legal proceedings were ongoing and they therefore could not deported.
In recognizing the gravity of the current situation, the court quoted medical expert Dr. Julie DeAun Graves: “Postponing the release of children in facilities with known COVID-19 exposure is like leaving them in a burning house rather than going in to rescue them and take them to safety.”
The court also ordered two court-appointed Juvenile Coordinators to submit to the court reports detailing the government’s compliance with the court’s order and CDC’s COVID-19 recommendations, including plans to identify and protect children at higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19, and individualized assessments of children subject to removal orders.
Judge Gee and counsel for the children will continue to monitor the government’s compliance with this order and report back to the. court before a further hearing on May 22. We remain hopeful that the government will fulfill its obligations to safely and expeditiously release immigrant children to their sponsors and keep children in custody safe from COVID-19, as required by the Flores Settlement.
President Trump has repeatedly called on Congress and the courts to terminate the settlement, which he has called "a disaster." To date these efforts have failed.
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-derides-judge-flores-settlement-actually-named-after-1387928
Class counsel in Flores are
Carlos R. Holguin crholguin@centerforhumanrights.org
Peter A. Schey pschey@centerforhumanrights.org
Co-counsel include:
Holly S Cooper hscooper@ucdavis.edu
Daisy O Felt dofelt@ucdavis.edu,
Diane de Gramont ddegramont@youthlaw.org
Leecia Welch lwelch@youthlaw.org
Neha Desai ndesai@youthlaw.org
Kate Manning kate.manning@lawfoundation.org |
