The following is a statement from Ur Jaddou, Director of DHS Watch, regarding the news that the Trump administration is proposing a new regulation to replace the Flores Settlement Agreement – which provides for basic standards of care for children and protects them from indefinite detention. Instead, the proposed regulation would allow for indefinite detention of children in unlicensed facilities.
Even under the Flores Agreement, there are a multitude of cases where children are harmed in detention. The last thing we need to do is to expose children to even longer detention under weaker conditions as the Trump administration is proposing. Medical and psychological experts all agree that detention, including family detention, is no place for children, let alone under inhumane conditions, and especially when there are viable and workable alternatives available. This proposed regulation is unacceptable and should be challenged.
