The Biden administration will seek to partially end the 27-year-old court supervision of how the federal government cares for child migrants traveling alone, the Associated Press reports. The Justice Department has told opposing attorneys it will ask a federal judge on Friday to terminate the so-called 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, according to Leecia Welch, deputy litigation director at Children’s Rights, which represents children in the case.
Border arrests have topped 2 million in each of the last two budget years, including nearly 300,000 unaccompanied children. But Flores is a policy cornerstone, forcing children to be quickly released to family in the U.S. 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. The landmark settlement — named for a child immigrant from El Salvador, Jenny Flores — would remain in effect at the Border Patrol and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, creating what Welch called a “piecemeal” dismantling. Attorneys for unaccompanied children will oppose the move, which would be subject to approval by U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles.