Federal Judge Blocks Trump-Era Policy Detaining Migrant Children Turning 18 in Adult Facilities

A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order, halting a Trump administration policy that sought to transfer migrant children who turn 18 into adult detention facilities. The swift judicial action comes as advocates reported that transfers to adult facilities were scheduled to begin this weekend.

U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras, based in Washington, D.C., ruled on Saturday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) must not detain unaccompanied minors in adult facilities upon reaching adulthood. Judge Contreras found that such automatic detention directly violates a standing court order he issued in 2021, which previously barred these practices.

The policy, originating from the Trump administration, is part of a broader, hard-line immigration agenda, particularly concerning the treatment of children crossing the border alone. This specific legal challenge was initiated by groups like the American Immigration Council, whose lawyer Michelle Lapointe stated, “All of these are pieces of the same general policy to coerce immigrant youth into giving up their right to seek protection in the United States.”

Unaccompanied children are typically housed in shelters managed by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, under the Department of Health and Human Services, not ICE. Judge Contreras’s 2021 order mandated that minors turning 18 be released from these shelters into the “least restrictive setting available,” provided they do not pose a danger or flight risk, often to relatives or foster care.

However, lawyers representing unaccompanied minors recently reported that ICE had begun informing shelters that children nearing 18, even those with approved release plans, would instead be transferred to adult detention facilities. An ICE email suggested that newly adult individuals could only be paroled under specific conditions for “urgent humanitarian reasons” or “significant public benefit,” a process historically used sparingly.

Advocates argued that such adult detention would inflict lasting harm on these young people, many of whom have experienced trafficking, abuse, neglect, or abandonment, especially given the potential for overcrowded or remote detention sites. The legal challenge underscores ongoing battles over immigration policies affecting vulnerable populations at the U.S. border.

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