A
1997 court settlement known as the Flores agreement has
generally been interpreted to require the Department of Homeland
Security to release illegal immigrant children from custody
after 20 days.
But Justice Department lawyers said in the filing in U.S.
District Court in California on Friday that they now have no
choice but to hold children for as long as it takes to resolve
their immigration cases, because of a preliminary injunction
issued on Tuesday in a separate immigration case.
That case, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union in San
Diego, challenged the recent government policy of separating
families in order to detain parents for as long as necessary
under President Donald Trump's "zero-tolerance" policy.
Since that policy was implemented in May, families have been
routinely separated after apprehension. Some 2,000 separated
children are currently under government care.
An executive order issued by Trump this month reversed the
policy, and the subsequent injunction in San Diego ordered the
government to immediately stop separating parents and children
and said families must be reunited in 30 days or less.
To comply with the injunction, the government said Friday it
"will not separate families but detain families together during
the pendency of immigration proceedings." Cases can sometimes
take months or years to resolve.
Under previous administrations, parents and children were often
released to pursue immigration claims at liberty in the United
States. Trump has decried that so-called catch-and-release
policy, and vowed to detain immigration violators.
(Reporting by Eric Beech)
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