Current Developments Reunite Separated Families: a Call to the Biden Administration to Rectify the Impact of Trump’s Zero-tolerance Immigration Policy

CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS

REUNITE SEPARATED FAMILIES: A CALL TO

THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO RECTIFY THE

IMPACT OF TRUMP’S ZERO-TOLERANCE

IMMIGRATION POLICY

ASMITA DESWAL*

This current development notes how the Trump administration violated

the law by implementing a zero-tolerance immigration policy and urges the

Biden administration to rectify the harm caused by the separation of families.

In 1997, a twelve-year class-action lawsuit concluded with the United States

government reaching a settlement agreement (the “Flores Settlement”) with

child welfare and legal advocates.

1

The agreement required the government to

adhere to a number of minimum standards in their treatment and processing of

children and to set limits on the length of time children can be incarcerated in

immigration detention. A key clause in the agreement dictates that the govern-

ment cannot detain children for longer than twenty days.

2

In 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit inter-

preted the above clause to apply to minors accompanied or unaccompanied

by their parents.

3

The Trump administration claimed that this interpretation

led to a surge of migrant families and minors from Central America request-

ing asylum and an increase in child smuggling.

4

To counter the court ruling

*Asmita Deswal, J.D. Candidate, 2021, Georgetown University Law Center; B.A. Philosophy, magna

cum laude, 2014, California State University, Long Beach. © 2021, Asmita Deswal.

1. 7 Things to Know About the Flores Settlement Agreement, LUTHERAN IMMIGR. & REFUGEE SERV.

(Sept. 26, 2018), https://www.lirs.org/f‌lores-settlement-agreement/?gclid=CjwKCAiAirb_BRBNEiwA

LHlnD1wpNo_VNU-WIAo3q6Bsn1bN24hdQBOXD_rCOPfjtbAPeYpwvQX9fRoC_ogQAvD_BwE.

2. The Flores Settlement and Family Incarceration: A Brief History and Next Steps, HUM. RTS.

FIRST (October 30, 2018), https://www.humanrightsf‌irst.org/resource/f‌lores-settlement-and-family-

incarceration-brief-history-and-next-steps.

3. Flores v. Lynch, 828 F.3d 898, 901 (9th Cir. 2016).

4. President Donald J. Trump is Taking Action to Close the Loopholes That Fuel the Humanitarian

Crisis On Our Border, TRUMP WHITE HOUSE ARCHIVES (August 21, 2019), https://trumpwhitehouse.

archives.gov/brief‌ings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-taking-action-close-loopholes-fuel-

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