Bicameral Congressional Leaders Call on the Ninth Circuit to Uphold Protections for Immigrant Children

Press Release

U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, along with U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, Senate Judiciary Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein, Immigration Subcommittee Ranking Member Dick Durbin and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Joaquin Castro and Representative Veronica Escobar, led 113 of their colleagues in submitting an Amicus Brief in Flores v Barr. The Brief urges the Ninth Circuit to reject the Trump Administration's latest attempt to gut the Flores Settlement Agreement, which provides vital, long-standing protections for children. Flores is key to ensuring there are minimum health and safety requirements for the custody of children.

The Members wrote: "Congress enacted [the Homeland Security Act and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008] to ensure the safety and well-being of migrant children and to set forth specific procedures for the screening, processing, and custody of those children. The regulations, by contrast, deprive children of access to those statutory protections and do not comport with the text and history of those statutes, or with Congress's plan in passing them."