Proposed Rule to Overturn Flores Settlement

The Trump Administration issued a proposed rule last week that will overturn the current Flores Settlement. The proposed rule would allow immigration children waiting for court dates to be detained in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities indefinitely. The Flores Settlement is a longstanding court settlement that requires the government to release children from immigration detention without “unnecessary delay”. This delay is usually shorter than 20 days. This Settlement is also the reason that children and their parents are separated at the border since the children cannot be held. This is Trump’s second attempt at overturning this rule. The initial attempt in June 2018 was overturned by a District Court Judge.

In 2001, all parties involved with the Flores Settlement agreed that the Flores Settlement will end 45 days after the government files federal regulations implementing new rules that comply with the conditions in the Settlement. The Trump Administration is planning on doing exactly this by filing federal regulations that creates its own licensed federal detention facilities and using a third party to monitor these facilities to make sure they meet the standards for protecting the well-being of children as required in the Flores Settlement. At the current moment, 20 States have sued the federal government over this proposal and the rule has not been officially implemented yet. To learn more about the current asylum program, please click here. To learn more about other forms of humanitarian relief, please click here.