Federal judge orders release of detained immigrant children

immigrant detainees
(Image credit: John Moore/Getty Images)

A federal judge ruled late Friday that detaining children and their mothers who crossed the border illegally violates an "unambiguous" court settlement, The New York Times reports.

Two Texas detention centers aren't fit for housing children, so they and their mothers should be released immediately, the judge said, according to a 1997 settlement. Judge Dolly M. Gee also found migrant children were being held in "widespread deplorable conditions" in Border Patrol stations when they were first caught.

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Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.