WASHINGTON – A federal judge in California extended the first-imposed deadline that ordered the release of immigrant children detained with their parents in ICE family detention centers.
The deadline was initially set for Friday, and if the deadline was not extended, migrant children were at risk of being separated from their parents and released.
Judge Dolly Gee had ordered the release of the children in June, after determining that the coronavirus pandemic had made family detention centers unsafe. She wrote at the time that family detention centers were “on fire.”
Gee said the government is already violating their previous order by holding them for more than 20 days. The average child has been detained for more than 100 days. Ninety-seven children are affected by the order.
Gee has extended the deadline to July 27 after both sides asked for more time to negotiate how the children will be released.
Gee only has jurisdiction over the detained children, and his order only applies to them, which means that ICE may have to decide whether to release the children with their parents or separated families. ICE has opposed releasing her parents.
The migrants’ lawyers say they should be released while awaiting the outcome of their asylum cases given the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in ICE detention.
