State attorneys general sue to block Trump's push to override child migrant detention rules


Attorneys general from 19 states and the District of Columbia, led by California and Massachusetts, filed suit Monday to block Trump administration efforts to alter a 1997 federal consent decree called the Flores settlement that lays out ground rules for how the federal government detains migrant children. The new rules, announced on Friday, would lift court oversight and allow children to be held indefinitely; under Flores, minors can be detained for no longer than 20 days and in the least restrictive setting.
The 20 attorneys general, all Democrats, argue in their lawsuit that the Trump rules violate the spirit of the Flores settlement, that their states would bear the cost of the trauma and irreparable damage inflicted on the tens of thousands of minors detained for long periods of times, and that the rule undermines state licensing programs for child care facilities. State officials also made the moral case that locking up children is wrong and pointless. U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee must sign off on the Trump administration's rules, set to take effect in 60 days.
The Trump administration said that under its rules, the child and family detention facilities will be audited and the audits made public, but the Flores lawyers would no longer have access to the children and the facilities where they are held, sometimes in deplorable conditions. It is thanks to these Flores monitors that we get jolted into remembering that the U.S. is locking up children, Barbara Bradley Hagerty notes at The Atlantic, and learn they "don't have soap. They are freezing. The food is rotten." If Trump's long-sought rules go into effect, she adds, "the long-term detention of migrant children would carry on out of view from advocates, the American public at large, and the entire world."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The plaintiffs' lawyers overseeing the agreement have also said they will also challenge the rules.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
September 27 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include Donald Trump and the rapture that wasn't
-
Sarah Ferguson: a reputation in tatters
In the Spotlight After emails surfaced revealing ties to Jeffrey Epstein, weeks after she claimed to cut contact, her charities are running for the hills
-
Sudoku medium: September 27, 2025
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Trump declares new tariffs on drugs, trucks, furniture
Speed Read He's putting tariffs of 25% on semi trucks, 30% on upholstered furniture, 50% on kitchen and bathroom cabinetry and 100% on certain drugs
-
Amazon reaches ‘historic’ $2.5B Prime settlement
speed read The company allegedly tricked customers into signing up for Prime membership that was then difficult to cancel
-
Trump DOJ indicts Comey, longtime Trump target
Speed Read The president is using the Justice Department to prosecute his political enemies
-
Gunman kills 1 detainee, wounds 2 at ICE facility
Speed Read A sniper shot three detainees at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office before fatally shooting himself
-
Trump DOJ reportedly rushing to indict Comey
Speed Read Former FBI Director James Comey oversaw the initial 2016 investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia
-
Man convicted of trying to assassinate Trump
Speed Read Ryan Routh tried to shoot President Donald Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course last September
-
Democrat wins Arizona seat, aiding Epstein drive
Speed Read Democrat Adelita Grijalva beat Republican businessman Daniel Butierez for the House seat in Arizona
-
Trump says Ukraine can win, UN nations ‘going to hell’
Speed Read In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, the president criticized the UN and renewable energy, plus made a sudden pivot on the war in Ukraine