Source: https://www.refugeesinternational.org/reports/2018/6/28/trumps-executive-order-and-the-flores-settlement-explained-bswdt
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 12:03:41+00:00

Document:
What is the Flores Settlement, and why does it matter?
The prospects of congressional action are uncertain at best. Congressional Republicans have proposed a bill that would override the Flores Settlement and thereby permit the detention of immigrant families together during their criminal and immigration proceedings,(14) However, it remains to be seen whether this bill will overcome the longstanding stalemate in Congress on immigration reform. In any case, it might well be subjected to court challenge.
It remains to be seen whether this will provide a sufficiently persuasive basis for the District Court to find that modification of the Flores Settlement is warranted. If the Flores Settlement remains in place, the Trump administration will be required to release detained children “without unnecessary delay” (within an average of 20 days). This means releasing their parents too, if the Trump administration intends to remain faithful to its announced policy of maintaining family unity.
RI is concerned that there appears to have been little consideration by the administration of alternatives to family detention that could prove more humane, consistent with U.S. international obligations, and workable in terms of the legitimate interests in border management. These could include, for example, recognizance, parole, bond, or orders of supervision, among others.(25) The absence of such consideration increases the likelihood that, with a potential Court decision that effectively prevents family detention, the Trump administration may falsely claim that the Court has deprived the administration of feasible policy options.
RI will explore the issue of alternatives to family detention in a future policy brief.
Fiona Chong of Refugees International contributed to this brief.
2. Executive Order 13841 of June 20, 2018, s. 1.
3. Executive Order 13841 of June 20, 2018, s. 3(e).
4. See, e.g., Sylvester Owino, “I Spent a Decade in Immigration Detention,” The Hill, March 7, 2018.
5. See Flores v. Reno, Case No. CV 85-4544-RJK (Px), Stipulated Settlement Agreement, January 17, 1997, and Flores v. Reno, Case No. CV 85-4544-RJK (Px), Stipulation Extending Settlement Agreement and for Other Purposes; and Order Thereon, December 7, 2001 (collectively, “Flores Settlement”). The Stipulated Settlement Agreement was originally set to expire five years after the date of court approval of the Agreement, but in 2001, the parties agreed to extend the operation of the Agreement: see Flores v. Reno, Case No. CV 85-4544-RJK (Px), Stipulation Extending Settlement Agreement and for Other Purposes; and Order Thereon, December 7, 2001.
6. Flores Settlement, para. 11.
7. Flores v. Lynch, 828 F.3d 898 (9th Cir. 2016).
8. Flores v. Lynch, 828 F.3d 898 (9th Cir. 2016).
9. Flores Settlement, para. 14.
10. Flores Settlement, para. 1; Flores v. Lynch, 828 F.3d 898 (9th Cir. 2016).
11. Flores v. Lynch, Case No. CV 85-4544-DMG, Order Implementing Remedies Pursuant to the Court’s July 24, 2015 Order, August 6, 2015, para. 2(a).
12. According to the Trump administration’s lawyers, “[u]nder current law and legal rulings … it is not possible for the U.S. government to detain families together during the pendency of their immigration proceedings.” See Flores v. Sessions, Case No. CV 85-4544-DMG, Defendants’ Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Ex Parte Application for Relief from the Flores Settlement Agreement, June 21, 2018.
13. The Flores Settlement can be superseded by regulations issued by the executive branch, but such regulations would need to be consistent with the Flores Settlement: see Flores v. Reno, Case No. CV 85-4544-RJK (Px), Stipulation Extending Settlement Agreement and for Other Purposes; and Order Thereon, December 7, 2001.
14. See, e.g., Dara Lind and Dylan Scott, “Flores Agreement: Trump’s Executive Order to End Family Separation Might Run Afoul of a 1997 Court Ruling,” Vox, June 20, 2018.
15. Executive Order 13841 of June 20, 2018, s. 3(e).
16. Flores v. Sessions, Case No. CV 85-4544-DMG, Defendants’ Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Ex Parte Application for Relief from the Flores Settlement Agreement, June, 21 2018. State-licensed facilities are facilities “licensed by an appropriate State agency to provide residential, group, or foster care services for dependent children”: Flores Settlement, para. 19.
17. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, rule 60(b)(5). Relevantly, the District Court also has the power to modify the Flores Settlement “if there is “any other reason that justifies relief”: Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, rule 60(b)(5).
18. Rufo v. Inmates of Suffolk County Jail, 502 U.S. 367 (1992).
19. Flores v. Sessions, Case No. CV 85-4544-DMG, Defendants’ Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Ex Parte Application for Relief from the Flores Settlement Agreement, June, 21 2018.
20. The Obama administration sought to amend the Flores Settlement in four ways: (1) to modify the release provisions to the extent superseded by legislation (in particular, the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008); (2) to modify the release provisions so that they would not apply to accompanied minors; (3) to modify the state licensing requirements so that they would not apply to family residential facilities; and (4) to modify reporting obligations: see summary of the government’s arguments in Flores v. Johnson, Case No. CV 85-4544 DMG (AGRx), Order re: Plaintiffs’ Motion to Enforce Settlement of Class Action and Defendants’ Motion to Amend Settlement Agreement, 24 July 2015.
21. The Obama administration also sought to justify its proposed amendments by arguing that the law had changed substantially since the Flores Settlement was approved. However, these arguments were rejected by both the District Court for the Central District of California and the Ninth Circuit on appeal: see Flores v. Johnson, Case No. CV 85-4544 DMG (AGRx), Order re: Plaintiffs’ Motion to Enforce Settlement of Class Action and Defendants’ Motion to Amend Settlement Agreement, 24 July 2015; Flores v. Lynch, 828 F.3d 898 (9th Cir. 2016).
22. Flores v. Johnson, Case No. CV 85-4544 DMG (AGRx), Order re: Plaintiffs’ Motion to Enforce Settlement of Class Action and Defendants’ Motion to Amend Settlement Agreement, 24 July 2015.
23. Flores v. Lynch, 828 F.3d 898 (9th Cir. 2016).
24. Flores v. Sessions, Case No. CV 85-4544-DMG, Defendants’ Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Ex Parte Application for Relief from the Flores Settlement Agreement, June 21, 2018.
25. National Immigrant Justice Center, The Real Alternatives to Detention, Policy Brief, June 18, 2017.

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