LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal judge on Friday approved the Biden administration’s request to partially end a nearly three-decade-old agreement to provide judicial oversight over how the government cares for migrant children in its custody.
U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee ruled that the special court’s oversight can end with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which takes custody of migrant children after they have been in Border Patrol custody for up to 72 hours. They are placed in a vast network of detention facilities and often released to close relatives.
The Justice Department has argued that the new safeguards, which are expected to take effect Monday, meet and in some respects exceed the standards set out in the plea deal. The judge mostly agreed, making exceptions for certain types of facilities for children with more acute needs.
Advocates for migrant children vigorously opposed the administration’s request, arguing that the federal government has failed to develop a regulatory framework in states, such as Texas and Florida, that would revoke licenses of facilities that care for migrant children or that may do so. it in the future. The judge dismissed those concerns, saying the new regulations are sufficient to replace court oversight at these unlicensed facilities.
The Flores agreement, named after Jenny Lisette Flores, a 15-year-old immigrant from El Salvador, is a cornerstone of the policy that grew out of widespread allegations of mistreatment in the 1980s. It obliges the U.S. to quickly release children in custody to family members in the country and establishes standards in licensed shelters, including food, drinking water, adult supervision, emergency medical services, bathrooms, lavatories, temperature control and ventilation.
The judge’s decision came three days before the start of the Department of Health and Human Services regulation that, according to Secretary Xavier Becerra, will establish “clear standards for the care and treatment of unaccompanied (migrant) children.”
The new HHS regulations will create an independent ombudsman’s office, establish minimum standards in temporary shelters, and formalize advancements in screening protocols to release children to families and sponsors and for legal services.
Of the 13,093 beds operated by the department, 7,317 of them — more than half — are in Texas, according to the decision. The judge rejected the plaintiff’s suggestion to stop housing children in Texas and Florida, calling it “not only impractical, but also potentially harmful to unaccompanied migrant children, to cease operating facilities in these border states.”
However, the judge maintained in her decision the ability for attorneys for migrant children to have access to information about children detained in Department of Health and Human Services holding facilities and to meet with them.
The administration did not seek to suspend judicial oversight of Border Patrol detention stations run by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
