Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer announced Thursday that his office and the city of Chicago joined 17 cities and counties in filing an amicus brief supporting a lawsuit seeking an injunction to prevent the Trump administration from altering a court agreement limiting the government’s ability to hold minors in immigration jails.
The brief supports the plaintiffs — all of whom are migrant children — in the federal case of Flores v. Sessions.
“Cities and counties across the nation are standing up for innocent children being detained in facilities on our border,” Feuer said. “Together we are demanding that the Trump Administration provide these children with the due process to which they’re entitled. And we’re calling on our nation to provide compassionate care to these kids, rather than inducing further trauma.”
The federal government entered into the Flores Settlement Agreement in 1997, which outlined a new policy for the treatment of children in custody because of immigration issues and requires the release of detained children within 20 days, as well as adequate access to medical care, legal representation and other services.
In September 2018, the Trump Administration sought to undo provisions of the FSA and eliminate the requirement that detained children must be held in non-secure, state-licensed facilities; allow for the detention of immigrant children for longer periods of time than the FSA permits; and limit the children’s ability to receive adequate access to counsel, Feuer’s office said.
“When people come into our Country illegally, we must IMMEDIATELY escort them back out without going through years of legal maneuvering,” Trump wrote on his Twitter page in June in support of his immigration policies. “Our laws are the dumbest anywhere in the world. Republicans want Strong Borders and no Crime. Dems want Open Borders and are weak on Crime!”