About 400 immigrant children were detained longer than the recommended limit, ICE admits

Unaccompanied migrant children watch television from inside a playpen at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility, the main detention centre for unaccompanied children, March 30, 2021, in Donna, Texas. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills, Pool, File)

McALLEN, Texas — Hundreds of immigrant children across the nation were detained for longer than the legal limit this summer, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has admitted in a court filing, alarming legal advocates who say the government is failing to safeguard children.

In a court filing Monday evening, attorneys for detainees highlighted the government’s own admissions to longer custody times for immigrant children, unsanitary conditions reported by families and monitors at federal facilities, and a renewed reliance on hotels for detention.

The reports were filed as part of an ongoing civil lawsuit launched in 1985 that led to the creation of the 1990s cornerstone policy known as the Flores Settlement Agreement, which limits the time children can spend in federal custody and requires them to be kept in safe and sanitary conditions. The Trump administration is attempting to end the agreement.

A Dec. 1 report from ICE indicated that about 400 immigrant children were held in custody for more than the 20-day limit during the reporting period from August to September. They also told the court the problem was widespread and not specific to a region or facility. The primary factors that prolonged their release were categorized into three groups: transportation delays, medical needs, and legal processing.

Legal advocates for the children contended those reasons do not prove lawful justifications for the delays in their release. They also cited examples that far exceeded the 20-day limit, including five children who were held for 168 days earlier this year.

ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Hotel use for temporary detention is allowed by the federal court for up to 72 hours, but attorneys questioned the government’s data, which they believe did not fully explain why children were held longer than three days in hotel rooms.

Conditions at the detention facilities continued to be an ongoing concern since the family detention site in Dilley, Texas, reopened this year.

Advocates documented injuries suffered by children and a lack of access to sufficient medical care. One child bleeding from an eye injury wasn’t seen by medical staff for two days. Another child’s foot was broken when a member of the staff dropped a volleyball net pole, according to the court filing. “Medical staff told one family whose child got food poisoning to only return if the child vomited eight times,” the advocates wrote in their response.

“Children get diarrhea, heartburn, stomach aches, and they give them food that literally has worms in it,” one person with a family staying at the facility in Dilley wrote in a declaration submitted to the court.

Chief U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee of the Central District of California is scheduled to have a hearing on the reports next week, where she could decide if the court needs to intervene.

Valerie Gonzalez, The Associated Press