“This new rule seeks to protect children and reduce fraud in our immigration system,” Rogers said. “It will ensure that migrant children remain safe and receive adequate care and that families stay together throughout their immigration proceedings. At the same time, this rule acknowledges the Flores agreement has resulted in unintended consequences, including an unprecedented number of migrant families arriving at our southwest border. I applaud the Trump Administration for taking action to close this loophole smugglers and criminals have continued to exploit at the expense of children.”

Background: The Flores Settlement Agreement sets standards for the detention and treatment of child migrants in federal custody. It went into effect in 1997 under the Clinton Administration and was intended to be temporary and is only binding until the government publishes rules implementing the agreement. As part of the agreement, the federal government is unable to hold migrant children for longer than 20 days. Initially, this requirement was limited to unaccompanied children but in 2015 was extended to include children arriving with families. The number of migrant families arriving at our southwest border has since spiked dramatically: in fiscal year (FY) 2015 just 39,838 migrant family members were apprehended, nearly doubling to 77,674 in FY 2016, and exploding to more than 432,838 in the first 10 months of FY 2019.

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