The Children’s Defense Fund opposes the Trump administration’s dangerous Flores rule and is proud to support litigation efforts to fight its cruelty. Together with more than 20 organizations dedicated to the care, health, well-being and welfare of children in the United States and pro bono counsel at Arent Fox LLP, CDF submitted a friend-of-the court brief in a California federal court.
The brief outlines how the administration’s final rule abandons the Flores agreement and argues the regulation will have a devastating impact for immigrant children. The Flores agreement is a decades-old legal agreement that establishes standards for the care of immigrant children in U.S. custody. The new rule allows the administration to get around its obligation to treat children in detention with dignity and with special concern for their unique vulnerability. Notably, the new regulation would enable the government to indefinitely incarcerate children and families.
Any amount of time is too long for a child to be held in a prison-like detention center. The brief uplifts important research confirming this truth and cites the devastating impact detention has on children’s health, education and general welfare. It also stresses the importance of family unification within communities—not detention centers.
See the press release.
Read the amicus brief.