Attorney General Bonta Leads Multistate Amicus Brief Opposing Trump Administration’s Attempt to Prolong the Immigration Detention of Children

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta yesterday led a coalition of 20 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief opposing the Trump Administration’s efforts to terminate the Flores Settlement Agreement, which has been in place since 1997. The FloresSettlement Agreement provides crucial protections against the inappropriate detention of children and ensures the children in immigration custody are held in facilities licensed in and subject to oversight by the states in which they reside. In May 2025, the Trump Administration moved to terminate the Flores Settlement Agreement with the goal of expanding family detention and increasing the duration of child detention. In the brief filed, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition urge the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to block the Trump Administration’s latest attempt to end the Flores Settlement Agreement and to prevent the Administration from keeping children in prolonged and unnecessary detention. 

“It is shocking, vile, but unfortunately unsurprising that the Trump Administration is once again trying to strip away decades-old protections designed to keep immigrant children safe. No child deserves to be left in potentially unsafe or unhealthy conditions, or subjected to prolonged confinement,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Shame on this Administration for using vulnerable immigrant children as political pawns to further their ideological agenda. California will continue to fight for the protection, welfare, and safety of all children, regardless of their immigration status.”

For almost 30 years, the Flores Settlement Agreement has ensured the safety and wellbeing of children in immigration custody through the enforcement of state child welfare laws. The agreement requires that children be held in state-licensed facilities under oversight, released without unnecessary delay to parents, guardians, or licensed programs, and placed in the least restrictive setting appropriate to their age and needs. It also sets standards for education, recreation, and overall care, establishes conditions of confinement, and provides monitoring to protect children while in custody. Maintaining this arrangement for immigrant youth is crucial to ensure that states can protect the rights and wellbeing of all children in their care, regardless of immigration status.

In 2019, California sued when the first Trump Administration attempted to terminate the Flores Settlement Agreement. California and other states also supported challenges to these actions, and a district court halted almost all of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s regulations and declined to terminate the Flores Settlement Agreement. Over time, some claims were resolved, and in 2024, the Biden Administration adopted new rules that restored and strengthened protections for unaccompanied children. Upon re-entering office, the Trump Administration once again tried to completely terminate the Flores Settlement Agreement and revert to the 2019 Department of Homeland Security rule. After this action was rejected by a district court, the federal government appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit.

In the brief, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition argue that the Trump Administration’s attempt to terminate the Flores Settlement Agreement interferes with states’ traditional and sovereign role to help ensure the health, safety, and welfare of children by undermining state licensing requirements for facilities where children are held. The termination would result in the vast expansion of family detention centers, which are not state licensed facilities and have historically caused increased trauma in children, and prolong the time children spend in immigration detention, causing significant long-term harm to their physical, mental, and emotional health, disrupting their development and educational needs and increasing burdens to the states that provide services to support them.

Attorney General Bonta is committed to continuing to fight for children already within our borders who need more protection, not less. Attorney General Bonta recently filed a comment letter opposing a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services rule rolling back protections for unaccompanied children.

In filing the amicus brief, Attorney General Bonta is joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.