Judge Orders DHS to ‘Expeditiously’ Provide ‘Safe and Sanitary’ Housing for Illegal Immigrant Children

A federal judge has ordered U.S. border officials to “expeditiously” relocate illegal immigrant children from “inhumane” makeshift open-air sites along the southern border in California. The order issued on Wednesday directs the Biden administration’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to treat the migrant children who entered the United States unlawfully with the same protections offered under the longstanding Flores Settlement Agreement. The Flores Agreement, a 1997 class action settlement, requires the U.S. government to provide basic services to illegal immigrant minors by providing housing in “safe and sanitary” facilities. The plaintiffs brought the lawsuit on Feb. 29, alleging that children who crossed the border illegally were being detained in “inhumane conditions” at open-air sides near the California-Mexico border, prompting public health and humanitarian concerns noted by advocates in sworn declarations....