WASHINGTON - Sept. 5, 2020 -Federal Judge Dolly Gee has ordered the government to stop detaining immigrant children in hotels, a practice which endangers their health and welfare, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf, who notes that another federal judge, James E. Boasberg, recently refused to order the release of roughly 300 immigrant parents and children to protect them from becoming infected with COVID-19.
Gee ruled that conditions in hotels "are not adequately safe and do not sufficiently account for the vulnerability of unaccompanied minors in detention," and that such detentions violated the 1997 Flores settlement which limits the length of time and conditions under which immigrant children can be detained.
Earlier, the government had proposed a deal which would have forced jailed parents fighting denial of asylum to make a Hobson's rock-or-hard-place choice: let their children be released without them, or remain detained together as a family indefinitely.
Banzhaf, in an amicus curiae brief, opposed the deal, arguing that the government can insure that the government can guarantee the appearance of immigrants at hearings, without imprisoning them along with their children, by a variety of proven and inexpensive electronic means, and thus eliminate the need for detention in hotels or elsewhere.
Advocates say they're worried ICE will ask parents to give up their children to family sponsors and remain detained themselves, or waive their children's rights to release under Judge Gee's earlier order; something which appears to be already happening.
JOHN F. BANZHAF III, B.S.E.E., J.D., Sc.D.
Professor of Public Interest Law
George Washington University Law School,
"The Man Behind The Ban on Cigarette Commercials"
FAMRI Dr. William Cahan Distinguished Professor,
Fellow, World Technology Network,
Creator of the "Banzhaf Index"
Founder, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH),
2000 H Street, NW, Wash, DC 20052, USA
(202) 994-7229 // (703) 527-8418
http://banzhaf.net/ jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com @profbanzhaf
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