JENNY LISETTE FLORES, Et Al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. WILLIAM P. BARR, Attorney General KEVIN K. MCALEENAN
JENNY LISETTE FLORES, Et Al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. WILLIAM P. BARR, Attorney General KEVIN K. MCALEENAN
JENNY LISETTE FLORES, Et Al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. WILLIAM P. BARR, Attorney General KEVIN K. MCALEENAN
SUMMARY *
*
This summary constitutes no part of the opinion of the court. It
has been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the reader.
FLORES V. BARR 3
The parties agreed that this court has jurisdiction over the
appeal of this post-judgment order only if it modified the
Agreement.
COUNSEL
OPINION
The parties agree that this court has jurisdiction over the
appeal of this post-judgment order only if it modified the
Agreement. The government argues that the district court’s
order did modify the Agreement by requiring the
government to provide specific hygiene items and adequate
sleeping accommodations not explicitly listed in the text of
the Agreement. We disagree. The district court’s order does
not modify the Agreement. Instead, it interprets the
Agreement’s requirement that minors be held in “safe and
sanitary” conditions “consistent with the [government’s]
concern for the particular vulnerability of minors.” See
Agreement at ¶ 12A. The government also argues that the
district court’s order modifies the Agreement in other
respects, but those arguments likewise lack merit. As the
district court’s order did not modify the Agreement we
dismiss the appeal.
2
Although the Agreement’s terms refer to “INS,” the Immigration
and Naturalization Service’s obligations under the Agreement now apply
to the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health
and Human Services. See Flores v. Sessions, 862 F.3d 863, 870 (9th Cir.
2017).
8 FLORES V. BARR
3
Paragraph 21 of the Agreement provides a third option—
placement in a secure juvenile detention facility—in limited
circumstances, such as where the minor has been charged with a crime.
Although the Agreement contemplates secure detention for minors that
are “an escape-risk,” the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims
Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (“TVPRA”) limits the use of
secure custody, stating that “[a] child shall not be placed in a secure
facility absent a determination that the child poses a danger to self or
others or has been charged with having committed a criminal offense.”
8 U.S.C. § 1232(c)(2)(A); see also Flores v. Sessions, 862 F.3d at 881
n.19.
FLORES V. BARR 9
II
4
A Special Master has since been appointed. See Order Appointing
Special Master/Independent Monitor, Flores v. Barr, No. 2:85-cv-4544
(Order) (C.D. Cal. Oct. 5, 2018) (ECF No. 494). Neither the appointment
of the Special Master nor the Special Master’s enforcement activities is
the subject of this appeal.
FLORES V. BARR 11
6
We note that, as the district court properly understood, assuring
“safe and sanitary” conditions includes protecting children from
developing short- or long-term illnesses as well as protecting them from
accidental or intentional injury.
FLORES V. BARR 15
7
As we lack jurisdiction, we do not reach the government’s
evidentiary objections regarding the record considered by the district
court.
16 FLORES V. BARR
8
Section 212.5(b) addresses the parole of aliens “who have been or
are detained in accordance with § 235.3(b) or (c) of this chapter.”
8 C.F.R. § 212.5(b). Section 235.3(b) provides for expedited removal.
Id. § 235.3.
FLORES V. BARR 17
9
For the first time on appeal, the government contends that the
district court’s conclusion that the government must consider whether to
release minors to potential custodians other than a parent or legal
guardian conflicts with a provision of the TVPRA, 8 U.S.C.
§ 1232(b)(3). We decline to address this statutory defense in this appeal,
as the government did not raise it before the district court. See Cold
Mountain v. Garber, 375 F.3d 884, 891 (9th Cir. 2004).
18 FLORES V. BARR
III
DISMISSED.