Politico
By Seung Min Kim
July 29, 2015
House
Democrats are upping the pressure on the Obama administration to stop
detaining immigrant mothers and children following a key federal court
ruling last week that
struck a blow to the controversial practice.
In
a letter obtained by POLITICO, House Democrats are again pushing the
Department of Homeland Security to end the use of family detention
facilities, which had been used
to deal with the historic influx of immigrants apprehended at the
southern border last summer.
The
missive, spearheaded by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), follows a federal
court ruling late last week from Judge Dolly Gee of the U.S. District
Court for the Central
District of California. The decision found that detaining immigrant
mothers and families violated an existing court settlement from 1997
involving children in the United States illegally, which requires that
they be held in the “least restrictive” conditions
possible.
“It
is long past time to end family detention,” the forthcoming letter from
House Democrats says. “In light of this recent federal court ruling, we
urge you take all necessary
and appropriate steps to bring the department’s practices in line with
the settlement agreement and the recent court ruling.”
An
aide said roughly 120 Democrats had already signed on to the letter,
addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, as of Wednesday
afternoon. More than 130
House Democrats had already written to the DHS earlier this year urging
the administration to end the practice, including its top two leaders,
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Minority Whip
Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).
House Democrats also held a forum Tuesday highlighting the issue of immigrant family detention.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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