At a hearing on Friday in Los Angeles, U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee will consider a Biden administration request to terminate the Flores agreement at the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, which takes custody of unaccompanied children within 72 hours of arrest by the Border Patrol, the Associated Press reports. It would remain in effect at the Border Patrol and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security.
Flores, named for Jenny Flores, a child immigrant from El Salvador, is a policy cornerstone, forcing the U.S. to quickly release children in custody to family in the country and setting standards at licensed shelters, including for food, drinking water, adult supervision, emergency medical services, toilets, sinks, temperature control and ventilation. It grew out of widespread allegations of mistreatment in the 1980s.
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