Under a 1997 court decree, known as the Flores settlement, migrant children are to be transferred to state-licensed shelters with specific standards and requirements for care, including education and recreational activities, within three days of being taken into government custody.
While many of the conditions described in the new motion have been previously reported, Monday’s action carries the weight of the Flores case, whose plaintiffs last filed a motion at the beginning of the pandemic.
“These allegations definitely don’t reflect the direction this administration has aspired to,” Wendy Young, the president of the children’s advocacy organization Kids in Need of Defense, said on Monday.