Flores Settlement Agreement

In 1997, the Center for Human Rights & Constitutional Law, National Center for Youth Law, Latham and Watkins, and National Center for Youth Law settled Flores v. Reno, a class action Lawsuit filed in 1985 on behalf of unaccompanied undocumented children. The lawsuit challenged the Immigration and Naturalization Service’s (“INS”) policies governing children’s release, and the conditions of confinement of those who were not released. The settlement agreement provides relief for a nationwide class of children who are detained in the legal custody of INS and set out, for the first time, a nationwide policy governing their detention, release, and treatment.