Trump Administration Ordered to Release Immigrant Children from ICE Detention

June 27, 2020

Washington, DC – In response to Federal Judge Dolly Gee’s ruling that the Trump Administration must release immigrant children being detained with their parents in U.S. immigration detention facilities during the COVID-19 crisis, Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) President Wendy Young issued the following statement:

“Releasing children from ICE custody has never been more important, and this ruling prohibits the Trump Administration from flouting legally binding minimum standards designed to protect immigrant children from prolonged and harmful detention. It’s equally unacceptable to attempt to rip children from their families by offering parents the impossible choice of remaining in detention with their children or allowing the government to separate them from their child without assurance of reunification. Families should not be detained, especially when viable and proven alternatives to detention are already in place. ICE should immediately comply with Judge Gee’s order by releasing children with their parents from detention so that they can stay together as they pursue their claims for protection in a safe and healthy place.”

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Media Contact: Megan McKenna, mmckenna@supportkind.org, 202-631-9990