Overview

• U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee ruled that government arguments and recent custody policies failed to present new legal grounds for terminating the nearly three-decade-old agreement.
• Gee noted that documented improvements in detention conditions demonstrate the Flores Settlement’s ongoing effectiveness.
• The Trump administration had cited a new GOP law authorizing extended family detention but the court found it does not override Flores’s time and care limits.
• Court filings revealed that CBP held hundreds of children beyond the 72-hour limit, including cases of week-long and multiweek custody periods.
• Advocates’ request to broaden independent inspections of CBP facilities remains pending, leaving oversight and compliance enforcement unresolved.