A federal judge in Los Angeles has issued an order to U.S. border officials, instructing them to promptly process and relocate migrant children who are currently residing in makeshift open-air facilities in Southern California. Advocates have raised concerns about the appalling conditions in these sites, and the judge’s ruling aims to address this pressing issue.
Judge Dolly Gee of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California issued a 12-page order on Wednesday. In her order, she ruled that the children, who the federal officials claim are not yet in U.S. custody, are entitled to the rights and protections provided to migrant minors under the Flores Settlement Agreement. This agreement requires the U.S. government to offer basic services to migrant children, including housing them in “safe and sanitary” facilities.
According to Gee, although migrant children at the outdoor staging areas in Southern California have not undergone formal processing, they are still under the legal custody of the U.S. as their movement is being controlled by Border Patrol agents.
In the heart of the matter lie seven locations in the vicinity of San Diego and Jacumba Hot Springs, a secluded region in Southern California. It is here that migrants find themselves waiting for hours, or even days, before Border Patrol agents transport them to official detention facilities for processing. Advocates have alleged that Border Patrol is responsible for guiding migrants to these specific sites.
Advocates who have visited the open-air sites have reported that migrant children there are not receiving enough food, aside from just crackers. Additionally, some of these sites do not have enough dumpsters and portable toilets, and the ones that are available are overflowing and unusable. These findings were shared by Gee, who expressed concern over the conditions at these locations.
Gee highlighted in her ruling that the open-air sites not only emit an unpleasant odor but also have trash scattered around them, causing Class Members to resort to using outdoor facilities for relieving themselves.
In recent years, Gee has consistently discovered that the Flores agreement has been violated by the U.S. government, regardless of which political party was in power.
Customs and Border Protection is currently reviewing Gee’s ruling, according to a statement.
According to the agency, it will continue to swiftly transport vulnerable individuals and children encountered at the border to its facilities.
Advocates for migrants praised Gee’s decision.
Neha Desai, an attorney at the National Center for Youth Law, stated that the government has neglected its responsibility for over a year by subjecting children to hazardous and inhumane conditions at Open Air Detention Sites (OADS). She further emphasized that the court’s decisive ruling has exposed the government’s false claim that these children were not under their custody.
According to government data, there has been a significant rise in migrant crossings in Southern California in recent months, as reported by Border Patrol. In the San Diego sector alone, Border Patrol recorded almost 152,000 migrant apprehensions in the first five months of fiscal year 2024, marking a substantial 72% increase from fiscal year 2023.
The San Diego sector has become the second busiest Border Patrol sector for illegal crossings in 2024, second only to the Tucson sector in Arizona.
