Trump Faces Fight In Congress On Scrapping Flores Deal To Free Migrant Children - Senator

Trump Faces Fight in Congress on Scrapping Flores Deal to Free Migrant Children - Senator

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd August, 2019) Any move by the Trump administration to scrap the 1997 Flores Settlement Agreement, prohibiting US authorities to hold immigrant children for longer than 20 days will be fought in Congress, US Senator Dianne Feinstein said on Wednesday.

"I strongly support the Flores Settlement Agreement, which provides serious and significant protection for immigrant children," Feinstein, top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a press release. "Any effort to eliminate the Flores Agreement will be met with the most strenuous opposition we can mount."

Earlier on Wednesday, the Trump administration issued a final rule that allows for replacing the 1997 Flores Settlement Agreement - a court settlement agreement that regulates detention of migrant children and imposes a 20-day limit on their time in detention.

"Under the Flores Agreement, ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] can only hold children in facilities that meet minimum standards and cannot hold them longer than 20 days," Feinstein said.

Also on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump told reporters his administration was seriously considering ending birthright citizenship in order to deter migrants from coming to the United States.