No fix for Flores: Biden immigration bill skirts pressing border issue

The massive, 350-page immigration bill proposed by Democrats this week does nothing to amend the Flores settlement agreement, a court ruling that mandates migrant families and children are released quickly, even as increasing numbers are encountered on the border.

The Flores settlement agreement originated from a lawsuit in the mid-1980s over the detention of an unaccompanied girl. A 1997 ruling in the case effectively prevented federal law enforcement from detaining migrant children for more than 20 days. In 2015, it was expanded to include families.