Children’s Rights opposes changes to federal requirements for unaccompanied children and sponsors
Press Release
There is a long pattern of human rights violations against immigrant children detained in the United States. The federal government has a legal obligation to provide children in its custody with shelter, food, recreation, education, and medical care—and to release them quickly into the care of a parent, family member, or appropriate sponsor.
Key Facts
THE ISSUE
Thousands of immigrant children have been and are held by the U.S. government in inhumane and substandard conditions. For decades, many had fled their home countries because of war, displacement, gang violence, persecution, discrimination, and dire poverty only to face continued hardship and abuse in this country. That picture has changed.
I have started to feel like all the days are the same. I keep a calendar in my notebook where I mark an ‘X’ next to each passing day to track how long I’ve been here. It makes me cry with anxiety that I might not get out of here.
In 2025, the number of immigrant families with minor children and unaccompanied children crossing into the U.S. and being detained at the border children dropped precipitously, while the number of families and children arrested in the interior parts of the country and detained by the government has increased. Children have been picked up outside schools and at bus stops, watched their parents arrested, and been separated from family members during routine immigration check-ins. For many, the places that once felt safe are now places where they and their families can vanish without warning.
A federal court settlement from 1997, known as the Flores Settlement, dictates how immigrant children should be treated while detained. Children must be held in the least restrictive environment possible and released to known family members without unnecessary delay. Child psychologists have long warned that detention of even two weeks is associated with developmental consequences and poor health outcomes that can last a lifetime.
Tragically, neither the Flores Settlement nor irrefutable medical science has been enough to protect immigrant children from harm while detained by the U.S. government. As Flores co-counsel, Children’s Rights has borne witness to the psychological, emotional, and physical harm they experience.
In March 2025, the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas reopened as the country’s only operating family detention facility. Since then, thousands of children have been held far beyond the court-ordered 20-day limit, some for more than 100 days. Families have described inadequate food (sometimes containing worms, mold, or bugs), foul-smelling water, denial of emergency medical care, and lights that never shut off—even at bedtime.
The work of Children’s Rights and our Flores co-counsel provides transparency and closer scrutiny of overly restrictive and inappropriate treatment of children, including the lack of adequate mental health, educational, and other services. Our representation has led to numerous court enforcement orders when protections under Flores are violated, resulting in the closure of multiple sites and improved conditions at others.
Our Efforts
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- Case Name
- Flores v. Reno
- Status
- Active
The Flores case was filed in 1985 to address the serious mistreatment of immigrant children in federal custody. The case settled in 1997 and remains under the supervision of federal court judge Dolly Gee in the Central District of California.
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