President Trump issued an executive order calling for an end to family separations at the border. The executive order would rely on modifying a court settlement from 1997. The action comes after several days of backlash over family separations at the border.
President Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order to stop family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border, which relies on the modification of a 1997 federal court decision.
The decision, Flores v. Reno, known as the “Flores settlement,” was first reached in 1997. It required immigration authorities to release children from immigration detention after 20 days.
The settlement was revised by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in 2015, which required authorities to prioritize family reunification “without unnecessarily delay” to a close relative or family friend, or to keep an immigrant child in custody in the “least restrictive conditions.”
In Wednesday’s order, Attorney General Jeff Sessions was prompted to file a request to modify the settlement which would allow the Department of Homeland Security to “detain alien families together throughout the pendency of criminal proceedings for improper entry or any removal or other immigration proceedings.”