On 27 July 2015, the U.S. Representatives Luis V. Gutiérrez (D- Ill.), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.), and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) issued a statement in response to a U.S. District Judge ruling that the detention of immigrant women and children violated the terms of the Flores Settlement. “Friday’s ruling confirms that the U.S. Government is wrong to hold vulnerable women and children – regardless of their immigration status – in secure, jail-like facilities,” says the Statement. “Furthermore, Judge Gee rejected the Administration’s defense that family detention is necessary to deter future migration. We wholeheartedly agree with – and applaud – this decision.”
“The Department of Homeland Security should comply with the Court’s ruling by promptly releasing the families currently in custody and beginning the process of shutting down the family detention centers. It is time for the Administration to finally put an end to this appalling and shameful practice of detaining mothers and children. ”