{"id":648005,"date":"2018-11-23T07:00:54","date_gmt":"2018-11-23T14:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=648005"},"modified":"2018-11-21T15:22:29","modified_gmt":"2018-11-21T22:22:29","slug":"government-could-hold-migrant-families-indefinitely-in-unlicensed-detention-centers-under-new-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2018\/11\/government-could-hold-migrant-families-indefinitely-in-unlicensed-detention-centers-under-new-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Government could hold migrant families indefinitely in unlicensed detention centers under new plan"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Children\"

U.S. Customs and Border Protection<\/p>

Undocumented immigrant children at a U.S. Border Patrol processing center in McAllen, Texas.<\/p><\/div>\n

Migrant families could be held indefinitely in unlicensed detention centers under a new federal plan that also would end critical court protections for immigrant children, according to new court records.<\/p>\n

Under the so-called Flores agreement, created in 1997, the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement \u201cshall release a minor from its custody without unnecessary delay\u201d to a parent, relative, legal guardian or adult designated by a parent.<\/p>\n

But new Trump administration regulations would dismantle the landmark Flores agreement and allow authorities to release children only to a parent or legal guardian \u2013 even if those adult guardians are detained.<\/p>\n

The new restrictions would maintain \u201cfamily unity,\u201d according to the government. But immigration lawyers argue that some children could be held in detention with their parents indefinitely while their immigration case is pending.<\/p>\n