The verdict is in. The government was wrong
Male minors sit and wait inside the US Border Patrol Central Processing Center in McAllen, Texas on August 12, 2019. Border Patrol officials said that 1,267 people were being held and processed in the facility at the time of the tour.
Back in 1997, the Justice Department entered into a binding agreement that governs how it must treat immigrant children in its custody. Known as the Flores Agreement, it requires the facilities kids are held in to be “safe and sanitary,” and mandates the government treat migrant kids with “dignity, respect, and special concern for their particular vulnerability as minors.”If the government fails to meet those standards, it can be sued.
The government appealed, arguing essentially “safe” and “sanitary” were subjective terms open to interpretation. On Thursday, a panel of judges rejected the Department of Homeland Security’s tortured logic. Judge Marsha S. Berzon said the first court’s finding was “consistent with the ordinary meaning” of the words safe and sanitary, and “a commonsense understanding” of those words mean.
“Assuring that children eat enough edible food, drink clean water, are housed in hygienic facilities with sanitary bathrooms, have soap and toothpaste, and are not sleep deprived are without doubt essential to the children’s safety,” Berzon wrote.
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