In court filing, ICE says it is effectively ending use of family detention
ICE disclosed that it is transitioning family detention centers to short-term facilities that will release families after no more than 72 hours.
March 6, 2021, 12:34 PM EST
By Julia Ainsley
WASHINGTON — In a federal court filing Friday night, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it is transitioning family detention centers to short-term facilities that will release families after no more than 72 hours.
ICE's disclosure, made in the Flores lawsuit brought more than a decade ago on behalf of immigrant children, effectively suggests that the agency is ending family detention, a policy started under the Obama administration in 2014.
The Trump administration sought to expand family detention by holding families over 20 days, the limit imposed by the judge in the Flores case.
As of Friday, only 13 families remained in ICE detention, and seven had been scheduled for release that day. The remaining six families are scheduled to be released March 7 unless they test positive for Covid-19, in which case they will be required to remain for a quarantine period before they are released.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1259818
