20 Organizations File Suit to Block Indefinite Detainment of Immigrant Children

20 organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, filed a legal brief to block a federal regulation that would allow the government to indefinitely detain migrant children. The lawsuit argues that the regulation is “contrary to the best interests of children.”

Nonprofit groups and medical associations filed the brief in response to the a proposal from the Trump administration that intends to terminate the Flores Agreement, a landmark ruling that set the standard of care the government must maintain for migrant children in detention. Under the proposed regulation, the “20-day rule,” the maximum amount of time migrant children can be held in detention, would be eliminated.

According to the groups, keeping children in detention for a prolonged period “is inherently harmful.” Myra Jones-Taylor of the advocacy group Zero to Three said that the “rollback of the Flores Settlement Agreement paves the way for [migrant children] spending significant time in family detention during a critical developmental period.”

The brief also addresses the Trump administration’s plans to create an internal judicial system that would remove immigration judges from the process of determining which kids are too dangerous to be released.

A date has not yet been set for a ruling on the proposed regulation.

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