Press Release  AG Campbell Opposes Trump Administration’s Attempt To Prolong The Immigration Detention Of Children

BOSTON — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell joined a multistate coalition of 20 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief opposing the Trump Administration’s efforts to terminate the Flores Settlement Agreement, which provides crucial protections against the inappropriate detention of children and ensures that 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, which had been in place since 1997, with the goal of expanding family detention and increasing the duration of child detention. The District Court denied the Administration’s request to terminate the agreement, and the Administration now asks the Ninth Circuit to step in. In the brief, AG Campbell and the coalition urged the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to block the Trump Administration’s attempt to end the Flores Settlement Agreement and prevent the Administration from keeping children in prolonged and unnecessary detention.  

“Detaining youth for any amount of time can cause severe trauma, and the Trump Administration’s latest attempt to prolong the detention of children is inhumane and cruel,” said AG Campbell. “I won’t allow this administration to abuse its power and put a political agenda above the health and wellbeing of our young people.”  

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 with specified 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 today’s brief, AG Campbell and the coalition argue that the Trump Administration’s attempt to terminate the Flores Settlement Agreement interferes with states’ sovereign role to help ensure the health, safety, and welfare of children, and undermines 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. It would 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. 

In 2019, Massachusetts joined other states in suing the first Trump Administration when it unsuccessfully attempted to terminate the Flores Settlement Agreement. 

In filing the amicus brief, AG Campbell joins the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. 

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