Bicameral Congressional Leaders Call On The Ninth Circuit To Uphold Protections For Immigrant Children In Flores Amicus Brief

Washington, D.C.— U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, along with U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, Senate Judiciary Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein, Immigration Subcommittee Ranking Member Dick Durbin, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Joaquin Castro, and U.S. Representative Veronica Escobar, led 113 of their colleagues in submitting an Amicus Brief in Flores v Barr. The Brief urges the Ninth Circuit to reject the Trump administration’s latest attempt to gut the Flores Settlement Agreement, which provides vital, long-standing protections for children. Flores is key to ensuring there are minimum health and safety requirements for the custody of children. 

The Members wrote: “Congress enacted [the Homeland Security Act and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008] to ensure the safety and well-being of migrant children and to set forth specific procedures for the screening, processing, and custody of those children. The regulations, by contrast, deprive children of access to those statutory protections and do not comport with the text and history of those statutes, or with Congress’s plan in passing them.”

In addition to Leader Schumer and U.S. Senators Merkley, Feinstein and Durbin, the Brief was signed by U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Kamala D. Harris (D-CA), Cory A. Booker (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Michael F. Bennet (D-CO), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Christopher A. Coons (D-DE), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Jack Reed (D-RI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Robert P. Casey (D-PA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Bernard Sanders (D-VT), Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT), and Edward Markey (D-MA).

In addition to Speaker Pelosi and U.S. Representatives Nadler, Lofgren, Castro, and Escobar, the Brief was signed by U.S. Representatives Pete Aguilar (CA-31), Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Karen Bass (CA-37), Earl Blumenauer (OR-3), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-1), Brendan Boyle (PA-2), Julia Brownley (CA-26),Cheri Bustos (IL-17), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Tony Cárdenas (CA-29), Sean Casten (IL-6), Judy Chu (CA-27), David Cicilline (RI-1), Gilbert Ray Jr. Cisneros (CA-39), Katherine Clark (MA-5), Yvette Clarke (NY-9), Emmanuel Cleaver (MO-5), Steve Cohen (TN-9), Luis Correa (CA-46), Philips Dean (MN-3), Peter DeFazio (OR-4), Rosa DeLauro (CT-3), Val Demings (FL-10), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11), Ted Deutch (FL-22), Debbie Dingell (MI-12), Eliot Engel (NY-16), Anna Eshoo (CA-18), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Ruben Gallego (AZ-7), Jesús "Chuy" Garcia (IL-4), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Al Green (TX-9) , Raul Grijalva (AZ-3), Debra Haaland (NM-1), Alcee Hastings (FL-20), Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), Pramila Jayapal (WA-7), Henry C. “Hank” Jr. Johnson (GA-4), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Derek Kilmer (WA-6), Mike Levin (CA-49), John Lewis (GA-5), Ted Lieu (CA-33), Alan Lowenthal (CA-47), Ben Luján (NM-3), Betty McCollum (MN-4), James McGovern (MA-2), Jerry McNerney (CA-9), Grace Meng (NY-6), Gwen Moore (WI-4), Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (Fl-26), Grace Napolitano (CA-32), Joe Neguse (CO-2), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-At Large), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN-5), Jimmy Panetta (CA-20), Chellie Pingree (ME-1), Mark Pocan (WI-2), Jamie Raskin (MD-8), Kathleen Rice (NY-4), Raul Ruiz (CA-36), Linda Sánchez (CA-38), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-5), Jan Schakowsky (IL-9), José E. Serrano (NY-15), Donna Shalala (FL-27), Albio Sires (NJ-8), Adam Smith (WA-9), Darren Soto (FL-9), Jackie Speier (CA-14), Greg Stanton (AZ-9), Eric Swalwell (CA-15), Mark Takano (CA-41), Bennie Thompson (MS-2), Dina Titus (NV-1), Rashida Tlaib (MI-13), Norma Torres (CA-35), Juan Vargas (CA-51), Marc Veasey (TX-33), Filemon Vela (TX-34), Nydia Velázquez (NY-7), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Peter Welch (VT-At Large), John Yarmuth (KY-3).

Click here to read the full Amicus Brief.

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