Activists, residents and members of civic organizations gather for a "Families Belong Together" march to protest the Trump administration's family separation policy in Los Angeles on July 21. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI |
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Sept. 6 (UPI) -- The Trump administration is planning to close a loophole that limits how long the U.S. government can detain migrant families with minor children -- 20 days -- by skirting a 20-year-old agreement.
The proposed changes by the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services would allow federal agents to hold migrant children for a longer period of time, as long as they are "treated with dignity, respect and special concern for their particular vulnerability."
The public can comment on the proposed changes for the next 60 days on the Federal Register.
After the changes take effect in early November, the regulations will likely be challenged in court -- particularly because U.S. District Court Judge Dolly M. Gee has already rejected government attempts to lift the limits on detention.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the changes send a message that families with minors who enter the country illegally will not be immediately released from custody.
"Legal loopholes significantly hinder the department's ability to appropriately detain and promptly remove family units that have no legal basis to remain in the country," Nielsen said. "This rule addresses one of the primary pull factors for illegal immigration and allows the federal government to enforce immigration laws as passed by Congress."
As a result of a 1996 lawsuit, the administration of former President Bill Clinton reached a settlement decree, called the Flores Agreement, that bars immigration agents from detaining migrant children for longer than 20 days. For two decades, the decree didn't gain much attention until the Trump administration this year began separating migrant children from parents in great numbers at the U.S.-Mexico border -- part of the president's "zero tolerance" policy on unlawful immigration.
The administration drew widespread criticism for separating 2,600 children from their parents, and the outrage ultimately led President Donald Trump to sign an executive order allowing the minors to reunite with parents. About 500 separated children, though, remain in federal custody.
Thursday's proposal says the changes adhere to "basic purpose" of the Flores agreement and treats detained migrants in accordance with the 1997 decree.
Trump has taken multiple steps to enforce the "zero tolerance" policy, but some have been struck down in federal court. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said earlier this year the administration aims to prosecute "100 percent" of the migrants who enter the United States unlawfully.
Thursday's plan was met with more criticism by immigration advocates.
"The impact this policy has on children's emotional and psychological well-being will linger on for decades," the American Civil Liberties Union tweeted.
The Texas Civil Rights Project also issued a statement urging the courts to uphold the Flores Settlement Agreement.
"The Trump administration has found a new low in the family separation crisis: seeking indefinite imprisonment of children," Efren Olivares, racial and economic justice director for the Texas Civil Rights Project, said in a statement. "Any attempt to withdraw from the Flores Settlement Agreement in order to circumvent previous court orders and expand family detention is wholly unacceptable."
