The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are proposing to lift court-imposed limits on how long it can hold children in immigration detention. Under proposed regulations, the administration seeks to replace the Flores settlement, a decades-old agreement that dictates how long the government can hold migrant children, and under what conditions. The administration wants to detain migrant families together for as long as their immigration cases are pending.
The proposed regulations will satisfy the "basic purpose" of Flores, the administration argues, by making sure that children are treated with "dignity, respect, and special concern for their particular vulnerability as minors." Under the Flores settlement, decided in 1997 and modified in 2015, immigrant minors can't be held in jail-like settings and there are sharp limits on how long the government can detain children.
As Christians, we affirm the dignity of all human beings made in the image of God. We believe vulnerable children should be protected, not harmed. We believe that the criminal justice process should promote the restoration of individuals and communities.
Under federal law, the public is allowed 60 days to submit comments about this ruling to The Federal Register, the national journal of the U.S. government.
Submit public comments to the Department of Homeland Security & oppose longer detention for migrant children!
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