“This new Trump rule callously puts at risk the safety and well-being of children. It undermines a decades-old agreement reached in court by the federal government to prevent the unlawful detention of immigrant children,” said California AG Xavier Becerra, referring to the 1997 Flores settlement, which the White House is attempting to scrap.
“We’re taking the Trump administration to court to protect children from the irreparable harm caused by unlawful and unnecessary detention,” Becerra said. “With our partners across the country, we will fight for the most vulnerable among us.”
#BREAKING: We’re taking the Trump Administration to court to defend children from the irreparable harm caused by unlawful detention.
— Xavier Becerra (@AGBecerra) August 26, 2019
Repealing the #FloresSettlement isn’t just morally reprehensible, it’s illegal. https://t.co/cyeTXlJHyK
The lawsuit (pdf) comes days after the Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan unveiled the new regulation, which would terminate the current 20-day limit on detention of immigrant children.