No Borders NewsWashington Attorney General Nick Brown has joined a coalition of 20 state attorneys general in filing an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The brief opposes the Trump administration’s efforts to terminate the Flores settlement agreement, which has been in place for decades to protect children in immigration custody.
The Flores settlement, created in 1997, is designed to prevent inappropriate detention of children. It requires that children be held in state-licensed facilities that are subject to state oversight, and it calls for release without unnecessary delay to parents, guardians, or licensed programs.
According to the filing, the settlement also sets standards for children’s care, including education, recreation, and other aspects of daily treatment, along with conditions of confinement and monitoring intended to protect children while they are in custody. The coalition argues that ending Flores would weaken state oversight and allow children to be held longer in ways that are not tied to state licensing requirements.
The announcement says the Trump administration moved in May 2025 to terminate Flores, aiming to expand family detention and increase the length of time children are detained. The coalition argues this would likely lead to more prolonged detention in facilities that are not state-licensed, and that this has historically been associated with greater harm to children.
Washington has been involved in related litigation before. The state led earlier efforts challenging family separation policies and later sued when the federal government tried to end Flores protections. The excerpt also notes that court actions and rule changes under the Biden administration affected how Flores protections were applied, and that the current appeal is aimed at ending the agreement again.