A federal ruling said Friday that it would order the Trump administration to end the debatable practice of keeping young migrants in hotel rooms while arrangements are made for them to be summarily deported from the United States under an unprecedented border restriction: a pandemic.
Judge Dolly Gee of the United States District Court in Los Angeles announced the initial order at a pre-order convention Friday afternoon and said she would take into account a final order later in the day and delay its implementation until next week, accepting a request from justice.Lawyers from the department who expressed considerations about the government’s early ability to comply with the court’s mandate.
Gee’s expected decision, if confirmed, will pose a significant logistical and legal obstacle to the secret hotel detention formula that the Trump administration expanded the coronavirus pandemic to facilitate the immediate deportation of un escorted youth and migrant families.
Citing a directive issued through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued in mid-March with the stated goal of reducing the spread of COVID-19, U.S. officials at land borders temporarily deported unauthorized migrants to the fullest, regardless of their age or intention to seek a humanitarian refuge in the United States.
While single adult migrants are deported directly to Mexico or Canada, many unaccompanied youth and families with minors have been detained in hotel rooms while waiting to return to their home countries on chartered flights through the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service.(ICE). Hotels, youth and families are supervised through personal contractors hired through ICE and are not allowed to call lawyers or apply for asylum if they are afraid to return to their home country, according to lawyers and court documents.
Between March and July, at least 660 unaccompanied migrant minors, were detained in more than 25 hotels in the border area, according to court documents.
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