Latest news with #FloresSettlement
CBS News
3 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Immigrant kids detained in "unsafe and unsanitary" sites as Trump administration seeks to end protections
A child developed a rash after he was prevented from changing his underwear for four days. A little boy, bored and overcome with despair, began hitting himself in the head. A child with autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder was forced to go without his medication, despite his mother's pleas. "I heard one officer say about us 'they smell like sh--,'" one detained person recounted in a federal court filing. "And another officer responded, 'They are sh--.'" Attorneys for immigrant children collected these stories, and more, from youth and families detained in what they called "prison-like" settings across the U.S. from March through June, even as the Trump administration has requested a federal district court judge terminate existing protections that mandate basic rights and services — including safe and sanitary conditions — for children held by the government. The administration argues that the protections mandated under what is known as the Flores Settlement Agreement encourage immigration and interfere with its ability to establish immigration policy. U.S. District Court Judge Dolly Gee, who is in California, is expected to issue a ruling on the request after an Aug. 8 hearing. With the Flores agreement in place, children are being held in "unsafe and unsanitary" U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities such as tents, airports, and offices for up to several weeks despite the agency's written policy saying people generally should not be held in its custody longer than 72 hours, according to the June court filing from immigrants' attorneys. In addition to opposing the U.S. Department of Justice's May request to terminate the Flores consent decree, the attorneys demanded more monitoring for children in immigration detention. "The biggest fear is that without Flores, we will lose a crucial line of transparency and accountability," said Sergio Perez, executive director of the California-based Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law. "Then you have a perfect storm for the abuse of individuals, the violation of their rights, and the kind of treatment that this country doesn't stand for." The Flores agreement has set minimum standards and oversight for detained immigrant children since 1997, when it brought an end to a decade-long lawsuit filed on behalf of unaccompanied immigrant minors who had been subjected to poor treatment in unsafe and unsanitary conditions without access to medical care. It is named for Jenny Lisette Flores, a 15-year-old from El Salvador who was taken into U.S. custody in the mid-1980s, subjected to strip searches, and housed alongside unrelated men. The agreement established national standards for the protection of immigrant children detained by federal authorities, with requirements for safe and sanitary detention facilities, access to clean water, appropriate food, clothing, bedding, recreational and educational opportunities, sanitation, plus appropriate medical and mental health care. Children in immigrant detention range from infants to teens. In 2015, Gee ruled that the agreement includes children accompanied by adults. The Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security, which includes both the Customs and Border Protection agency and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, declined to answer questions about the administration's intent to end the Flores agreement or about the conditions in which kids are detained. In a May court filing, government attorneys argued, among other points, that the agreement improperly directs immigration decisions to the courts, not the White House. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi also has said that the Flores agreement has "incentivized illegal immigration," and that Congress and federal agencies have resolved the problems Flores was designed to fix. ICE detention facilities have the "highest standards," Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, said in an email to KFF Health News. "They are safe, clean, and hold illegal aliens who are awaiting final removal proceedings." Immigration lawyers and researchers have pushed back on the idea that the Flores agreement encourages migration, arguing that the conditions in people's homelands are driving them to move. President Trump is not the first president to seek to modify, or end, the agreement. In 2016, President Barack Obama's administration unsuccessfully sought to exempt accompanied minors from the Flores agreement, arguing that an influx of immigrants from Central America had overwhelmed the system. In 2019, following a policy that caused family separation, the first Trump administration announced it would replace Flores with new regulations to expand family detention and eliminate detention time limits. The courts rejected that plan, too. In 2024, President Joe Biden's administration successfully requested to remove the Department of Health and Human Services from the agreement after the Office of Refugee Resettlement incorporated some Flores standards into agency regulations. Allegations of unsafe conditions under the agreement also predate this latest immigration crackdown under Mr. Trump. One court filing from 2019 said that attorneys visiting two Texas detention centers found at least 250 infants, children, and teens, some of whom had been held at the facility for nearly a month. "Children were filthy and wearing clothes covered in bodily fluids, including urine," the filing said. Seven children are known to have died while in federal custody from 2018 to 2019, according to media reports. And in 2023, 8-year-old Anadith Danay Reyes Alvarez became sick and died while in Customs and Border Protection custody in Texas for nine days. Her parents had turned over medical records detailing the girl's medical history, including diagnoses of sickle cell disease and congenital heart disease, upon their detention. Yet her mother's repeated pleas for emergency medical care were ignored. Her family filed a wrongful death claim in May. Advocates attributed the deaths partly to prolonged detention in increasingly crowded facilities and delayed medical care. Officials have said they increased medical services and acknowledged failures in the wake of the deaths. But with the Trump administration's unprecedented push to detain and deport migrants — including families — the threat to the health of children caught up in those sweeps is alarming child advocates. "Very rarely do you have spikes in populations of detained folk that you don't see a drastic decrease in the quality of their medical care," said Daniel Hatoum, a senior supervising attorney at the Texas Civil Rights Project, one of the groups that filed the wrongful death claim for Anadith's family. Recent reports from court-appointed monitors cite continued lack of access to appropriate medical care; temperature extremes; few outside recreational opportunities; lack of appropriate food and clothing; and an inability to dim lights to sleep. Terminating the Flores agreement would remove all outside oversight of immigration detention facilities by court-ordered monitors and attorneys. The public would have to depend on the government for transparency about the conditions in which children are held. "Our system requires that there be some oversight for government, not just the Department of Homeland Security, but in general," Hatoum said. "We know that. So, I do not believe that DHS could police itself." In the months after Mr. Trump took office and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency began cuts, the administration shuttered DHS' Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman, and the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, which were intended to add a layer of oversight. After a lawsuit, the Trump administration reversed action and noted the offices would remain open, but it is unclear how those offices have been affected by shifts in policy and cuts in staffing. Leecia Welch, an attorney with the legal advocacy group Children's Rights, said the Flores agreement itself, or efforts to hold the government responsible for abiding by its requirements, are not rooted in partisan politics. She said she raised concerns about conditions during Biden's administration, too. "These are not political issues for me," Welch said. "How does our country want to treat children? That's it. It's very simple. I'm not going to take it easy on any administration where children are being harmed in their care." KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.
Boston Globe
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
New insight into Texas family detention reveals adults fighting kids for clean water
'At a time when Congress is considering funding the indefinite detention of children and families, defending the Flores Settlement is more urgent than ever,' Mishan Wroe, a senior immigration attorney at the National Center for Youth Law, said in a statement Friday. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Advocates with the center, as well as the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, RAICES and Children's Rights contacted or visited children and their families held in two Texas family detention centers in Dilley and Karnes, which reopened earlier this year. Advertisement The conditions of the family detention facilities were undisclosed until immigration attorneys filed an opposing motion before a California federal court. The oversight of the detention facilities was possible because of the settlement, and the visits help ensure standards compliance and transparency, said Sergio Perez, the executive director of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law. Without the settlement, those overseeing the facilities would lose access to them and could not document what is happening inside. Advertisement Out of 90 families who spoke to RAICES since March, 40 expressed medical concerns, according to the court documents. Several testimonies expressed concern over water quantity and quality. Emails seeking comment were sent to the Office of Attorney General Pam Bondi and to CoreCivic and Geo Group, which operate the detention facilities in Dilley and Karnes, Texas, respectively. There was no response from either Bondi's office or Geo Group by midday Saturday. CoreCivic referred questions to ICE. One mother was told she would have to use tap water for formula for her 9-month-old, who had diarrhea for three days after, and a 16-year-old girl described people scrambling over each other for water. 'We don't get enough water. They put out a little case of water, and everyone has to run for it,' said the declaration from the girl held with her mother and two younger siblings at the Karnes County Immigration Processing Center. 'An adult here even pushed my little sister out of the way to get to the water first.' Faisal Al-Juburi, chief external affairs officer for RAICES, said Friday in a statement that the conditions 'only serve to reinforce the vital need for transparent and enforceable standards and accountability measures,' citing an 'unconscionable obstruction of medical care for those with acute, chronic, and terminal illnesses.' One family with a young boy with cancer said he missed his doctor's appointment after the family was arrested following their attendance to an immigration court hearing. He is now experiencing relapse symptoms, according to the motion. Another family said their 9-month old lost over 8 pounds (3.6 kilograms) while in detention for a month. Advertisement Children spoke openly about their trauma during visits with legal monitors, including a 12-year-old boy with a blood condition. He reported his feet became too inflamed to walk, and even though he saw a doctor, he was denied further testing. Now, he stays mostly off his feet. 'It hurts when I walk,' he said in a court declaration. Detained immigrant children lined up in the cafeteria at the Karnes County Residential Center, a detention center in Karnes City, Texas. Eric Gay/Associated Press Arrests have left psychological trauma. A mother of a 3-year-old boy who saw agents go inside his babysitter's home with guns started acting differently after detention. She said he now throws himself on the ground, bruises himself and refuses to eat most days. Growing concerns as ICE ramps up operations Many of the the families in detention were already living in the U.S. which reflects the recent shift from immigration arrests at the border to internal operations. Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff and main architect of Trump's immigration policies, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers would target Leecia Welch, the deputy legal director at Children's Rights said that as bad as facility conditions are, they will only get worse as more immigrants are brought in. 'As of early June, the census at Dilley was around 300 and only two of its five areas were open,' Welch said of her visits. 'With a capacity of around 2,400, it's hard to imagine what it would be like with 2,000 more people.' Pediatricians like Dr. Marsha Griffin with the American Academy of Pediatrics Council said they are concerned and are advocating across the country to allow pediatric monitors with child welfare experts inside the facilities. Advertisement Future of detention without Flores agreement The Trump's legislation approved by the House also proposes setting aside $45 billion in funding, a threefold spending increase, over the next four years to expand ICE detention of adults and families. The Senate is now considering that legislation. Under these increased efforts to add more detention space, GeoGroup, the same corporation operating the detention facility in Karnes, will soon be opening an infamous prison — which housed gangsters Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly — for migrant detention in Leavenworth, Kansas. Immigration advocates argue that if the settlement were terminated, the government would need to create regulations that conform to the agreement's terms. 'Plaintiffs did not settle for policy making— they settled for rulemaking," the motion read. The federal government will have a chance to submit a reply brief. A court hearing is later scheduled for mid-July.
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New insight into Texas family detention reveals adults fighting kids for clean water
McALLEN, Texas (AP) — Adults fighting kids for clean water, despondent toddlers and a child with swollen feet denied a medical exam — these first-hand accounts from immigrant families at detention centers included in a motion filed by advocates Friday night are offering a glimpse of conditions at Texas facilities. Families shared their testimonies with immigrant advocates filing a lawsuit to prevent the Trump administration from terminating the Flores Settlement Agreement, a '90s-era policy that requires immigrant children detained in federal custody be held in safe and sanitary conditions. The agreement could challenge President Donald Trump's family detention provisions in his 'big, beautiful' bill of tax breaks and spending cuts, which also seeks to make the detention time indefinite and comes as the administration ramps up arrests. 'At a time when Congress is considering funding the indefinite detention of children and families, defending the Flores Settlement is more urgent than ever,' Mishan Wroe, a senior immigration attorney at the National Center for Youth Law, said in a statement Friday. Advocates with the center, as well as the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, RAICES and Children's Rights contacted or visited children and their families held in two Texas family detention centers in Dilley and Karnes, which reopened earlier this year. The conditions of the family detention facilities were undisclosed until immigration attorneys filed an opposing motion before a California federal court. The oversight of the detention facilities was possible because of the settlement, and the visits help ensure standards compliance and transparency, said Sergio Perez, the executive director of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law. Without the settlement, those overseeing the facilities would lose access to them and could not document what is happening inside. Out of 90 families who spoke to RAICES since March, 40 expressed medical concerns, according to the court documents. Several testimonies expressed concern over water quantity and quality. Emails seeking comment were sent to the Office of Attorney General Pam Bondi and to CoreCivic and Geo Group, which operate the detention facilities in Dilley and Karnes, Texas, respectively. There was no response from either Bondi's office or Geo Group by midday Saturday. CoreCivic referred questions to ICE. One mother was told she would have to use tap water for formula for her 9-month-old, who had diarrhea for three days after, and a 16-year-old girl described people scrambling over each other for water. 'We don't get enough water. They put out a little case of water, and everyone has to run for it," said the declaration from the girl held with her mother and two younger siblings at the Karnes County Immigration Processing Center. 'An adult here even pushed my little sister out of the way to get to the water first.' Faisal Al-Juburi, chief external affairs officer for RAICES, said Friday in a statement that the conditions 'only serve to reinforce the vital need for transparent and enforceable standards and accountability measures," citing an 'unconscionable obstruction of medical care for those with acute, chronic, and terminal illnesses.' One family with a young boy with cancer said he missed his doctor's appointment after the family was arrested following their attendance to an immigration court hearing. He is now experiencing relapse symptoms, according to the motion. Another family said their 9-month old lost over 8 pounds (3.6 kilograms) while in detention for a month. Children spoke openly about their trauma during visits with legal monitors, including a 12-year-old boy with a blood condition. He reported his feet became too inflamed to walk, and even though he saw a doctor, he was denied further testing. Now, he stays mostly off his feet. 'It hurts when I walk,' he said in a court declaration. Arrests have left psychological trauma. A mother of a 3-year-old boy who saw agents go inside his babysitter's home with guns started acting differently after detention. She said he now throws himself on the ground, bruises himself and refuses to eat most days. Growing concerns as ICE ramps up operations Many of the the families in detention were already living in the U.S. which reflects the recent shift from immigration arrests at the border to internal operations. Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff and main architect of Trump's immigration policies, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers would target at least 3,000 arrests a day, up from about 650 a day during the first five months of Trump's second term. Leecia Welch, the deputy legal director at Children's Rights said that as bad as facility conditions are, they will only get worse as more immigrants are brought in. 'As of early June, the census at Dilley was around 300 and only two of its five areas were open," Welch said of her visits. "With a capacity of around 2,400, it's hard to imagine what it would be like with 2,000 more people.' Pediatricians like Dr. Marsha Griffin with the American Academy of Pediatrics Council said they are concerned and are advocating across the country to allow pediatric monitors with child welfare experts inside the facilities. Future of detention without Flores agreement The Flores agreement is poised to become more relevant if Trump's legislation called the ' One Big Beautiful Bill Act ' passes with the current language allowing the indefinite detention of immigrant families, which is not allowed under the Flores agreement. Trump's legislation approved by the House also proposes setting aside $45 billion in funding, a threefold spending increase, over the next four years to expand ICE detention of adults and families. The Senate is now considering that legislation. Under these increased efforts to add more detention space, GeoGroup, the same corporation operating the detention facility in Karnes, will soon be opening an infamous prison — which housed gangsters Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly — for migrant detention in Leavenworth, Kansas. Immigration advocates argue that if the settlement were terminated, the government would need to create regulations that conform to the agreement's terms. 'Plaintiffs did not settle for policy making— they settled for rulemaking," the motion read. The federal government will have a chance to submit a reply brief. A court hearing is later scheduled for mid-July.
Los Angeles Times
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Texas family detention center witnesses describe adults fighting kids for clean water
McALLEN, Texas — Adults fighting kids for clean water, despondent toddlers, and a child with swollen feet denied a medical exam: These first-hand accounts from immigrant families at detention centers included in a motion filed by advocates Friday night are offering a glimpse of conditions at Texas facilities. Families shared their testimonies with immigrant advocates filing a lawsuit to prevent the Trump administration from terminating the Flores settlement agreement, a 1990s-era policy that requires immigrant children detained in federal custody be held in safe and sanitary conditions. The agreement could challenge President Trump's family detention provisions in his massive tax and spending bill, which also seeks to make the detention time indefinite and comes as the administration ramps up arrests of immigrants nationwide. 'At a time when Congress is considering funding the indefinite detention of children and families, defending the Flores Settlement is more urgent than ever,' Mishan Wroe, a senior immigration attorney at the National Center for Youth Law, said in a statement Friday. Advocates with the center, as well as the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, RAICES and Children's Rights contacted or visited children and their families held in two Texas family detention centers in Dilley and Karnes, which reopened this year. The conditions of the family detention facilities were undisclosed until immigration attorneys filed an opposing motion Friday night before a California federal court. The oversight of the detention facilities was possible because of the settlement, and the visits help ensure standards of compliance and transparency, said Sergio Perez, the executive director of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law. Without the settlement, those overseeing the facilities would lose access to them and could not document what is happening inside. Out of 90 families who spoke to RAICES, an immigration legal support group, since March, 40 expressed medical concerns, according to the court documents. Several testimonies expressed concern over water quantity and quality. Emailed messages seeking comment were sent to the office of U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi and to CoreCivic and Geo Group, the private prison companies that operate the detention facilities in Dilley and Karnes, respectively. There was no response from Bondi's office or the operators of the facilities as of midday Saturday. One mother was told she would have to use tap water for formula for her 9-month-old, who had diarrhea for three days after. A 16-year-old girl described people scrambling over one another for water. 'We don't get enough water. They put out a little case of water, and everyone has to run for it,' said the declaration from the girl held with her mother and two younger siblings at the Karnes County Immigration Processing Center. 'An adult here even pushed my little sister out of the way to get to the water first.' Faisal Al-Juburi, chief external affairs officer for RAICES, said Friday in a statement that the conditions 'only serve to reinforce the vital need for transparent and enforceable standards and accountability measures,' citing an 'unconscionable obstruction of medical care for those with acute, chronic, and terminal illnesses.' One family with a young boy with cancer said he missed his doctor's appointment after the family was arrested after they attended an immigration court hearing. He is now experiencing relapse symptoms, according to the motion. Another family said their 9-month-old lost more than 8 pounds while in detention for a month. Children spoke openly about their trauma during visits with legal monitors, including a 12-year-old boy with a blood condition. He reported that his feet became too inflamed to walk, and even though he saw a doctor, he was denied further testing. Now, he stays mostly off his feet. 'It hurts when I walk,' he said in a court declaration. Arrests have left psychological trauma. A mother of a 3-year-old boy who saw agents go inside his babysitter's home with guns started acting differently after detention. She said he now throws himself on the ground, bruises himself and refuses to eat most days. Many of the families in detention were already living in the U.S., reflecting the recent shift from immigration arrests at the border to internal operations. Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff and main architect of Trump's immigration policies, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers would target at least 3,000 arrests a day, up from about 650 a day during the first few months of Trump's second term. Leecia Welch, the deputy legal director at Children's Rights, said that as bad as facility conditions are, they will only get worse as more immigrants are brought in. 'As of early June, the census at Dilley was around 300, and only two of its five areas were open,' Welch said of her visits. 'With a capacity of around 2,400, it's hard to imagine what it would be like with 2,000 more people.' Pediatricians such as Dr. Marsha Griffin with the American Academy of Pediatrics Council said they are concerned and are advocating across the country to allow pediatric monitors with child welfare experts inside the facilities. The Flores agreement is poised to become more relevant if Trump's tax and spending legislation, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passes with the current language allowing the indefinite detention of immigrant families, which is not allowed under the Flores agreement. Trump's legislation approved by the House also proposes setting aside $45 billion in funding, a threefold spending increase, over the next four years to expand ICE detention of adults and families. The Senate is now considering the bill. Under these increased efforts to add more detention space, Geo Group, the corporation operating the detention facility in Karnes, will soon be reopening an infamous prison — which housed gangsters Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly — for migrant detention in Leavenworth, Kan. Immigration advocates argue that if the settlement were terminated, the government would need to create regulations that conform to the agreement's terms. 'Plaintiffs did not settle for policy making — they settled for rulemaking,' the motion read. The federal government will have a chance to submit a reply brief. A court hearing is scheduled for mid-July. Gonzalez writes for the Associated Press.
CTV News
21-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
New insight into Texas family detention reveals adults fighting kids for clean water
McALLEN, Texas — Adults fighting kids for clean water, despondent toddlers and a child with swollen feet denied a medical exam — these first-hand accounts from immigrant families at detention centres included in a motion filed by advocates Friday night are offering a glimpse of conditions at Texas facilities. Families shared their testimonies with immigrant advocates filing a lawsuit to prevent the Trump administration from terminating the Flores Settlement Agreement, a '90s-era policy that requires immigrant children detained in federal custody be held in safe and sanitary conditions. The agreement could challenge U.S. President Donald Trump's family detention provisions in his 'big, beautiful' bill of tax breaks and spending cuts, which also seeks to made the detention time indefinite and comes as the administration ramps up arrests. 'At a time when Congress is considering funding the indefinite detention of children and families, defending the Flores Settlement is more urgent than ever,' Mishan Wroe, a senior immigration attorney at the National Centre for Youth Law, said in a statement Friday. Advocates with the centre, as well as the Centre for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, RAICES and Children's Rights contacted or visited children and their families held in two Texas family detention centres in Dilley and Karnes, which reopened earlier this year. The conditions of the family detention facilities were undisclosed until immigration attorneys filed an opposing motion Friday night before a California federal court. The oversight of the detention facilities was possible because of the settlement, and the visits help ensure standards compliance and transparency, said Sergio Perez, the executive director of the Centre for Human Rights and Constitutional Law. Without the settlement, those overseeing the facilities would lose access to them and could not document what is happening inside. Out of 90 families who spoke to RAICES since March, 40 expressed medical concerns, according to the court documents. Several testimonies expressed concern over water quantity and quality. Family Detention FILE - In this Sept. 10, 2014, file photo, detained immigrant children line up in the cafeteria at the Karnes County Residential Center, a detention center for immigrant families, in Karnes City, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File) (Eric Gay/AP) Emails seeking comment were sent to the Office of Attorney General Pam Bondi and to CoreCivic and Geo Group, which operate the detention facilities in Dilley and Karnes, Texas, respectively. There was no response from either Bondi's office or the operators of the facilities by midday Saturday. One mother was told she would have to use tap water for formula for her 9-month-old, who had diarrhea for three days after, and a 16-year-old girl described people scrambling over each other for water. 'We don't get enough water. They put out a little case of water, and everyone has to run for it,' said the declaration from the girl held with her mother and two younger siblings at the Karnes County Immigration Processing Centre. 'An adult here even pushed my little sister out of the way to get to the water first.' Faisal Al-Juburi, chief external affairs officer for RAICES, said Friday in a statement that the conditions 'only serve to reinforce the vital need for transparent and enforceable standards and accountability measures,' citing an 'unconscionable obstruction of medical care for those with acute, chronic, and terminal illnesses.' One family with a young boy with cancer said he missed his doctor's appointment after the family was arrested following their attendance to an immigration court hearing. He is now experiencing relapse symptoms, according to the motion. Another family said their 9-month old lost over 8 pounds (3.6 kilograms) while in detention for a month. Children spoke openly about their trauma during visits with legal monitors, including a 12-year-old boy with a blood condition. He reported his feet became too inflamed to walk, and even though he saw a doctor, he was denied further testing. Now, he stays mostly off his feet. 'It hurts when I walk,' he said in a court declaration. Arrests have left psychological trauma. A mother of a 3-year-old boy who saw agents go inside his babysitter's home with guns started acting differently after detention. She said he now throws himself on the ground, bruises himself and refuses to eat most days. Growing concerns as ICE ramps up operations Many of the the families in detention were already living in the U.S. which reflects the recent shift from immigration arrests at the border to internal operations. Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff and main architect of Trump's immigration policies, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers would target at least 3,000 arrests a day, up from about 650 a day during the first five months of Trump's second term. Leecia Welch, the deputy legal director at Children's Rights said that as bad as facility conditions are, they will only get worse as more immigrants are brought in. 'As of early June, the census at Dilley was around 300 and only two of its five areas were open,' Welch said of her visits. 'With a capacity of around 2,400 – it's hard to imagine what it would be like with 2,000 more people.' Pediatricians like Dr. Marsha Griffin with the American Academy of Pediatrics Council said they are concerned and are advocating across the country to allow pediatric monitors with child welfare experts inside the facilities. Future of detention without Flores agreement The Flores agreement is poised to become more relevant if Trump's legislation called the ' One Big Beautiful Bill Act ' passes with the current language allowing the indefinite detention of immigrant families, which is not allowed under the Flores agreement. Trump's legislation approved by the House also proposes setting aside US$45 billion in funding, a threefold spending increase, over the next four years to expand ICE detention of adults and families. The Senate is now considering that legislation. Under these increased efforts to add more detention space, GeoGroup, the same corporation operating the detention facility in Karnes, will soon be opening an infamous prison — which housed gangsters Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly — for migrant detention in Leavenworth, Kansas. Immigration advocates argue that if the settlement were terminated, the government would need to create regulations that conform to the agreement's terms. 'Plaintiffs did not settle for policy making— they settled for rulemaking," the motion read. The federal government will have a chance to submit a reply brief. A court hearing is later scheduled for mid-July. By Valerie Gonzalez.
