Judge denies Trump administration request to delay deadline to release migrants from ICE detention centers

Getty Images

A federal judge denied a request from the Trump administration to delay its deadline to release migrants from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers. 

U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee ruled in late June that children in ICE detention centers must be released “with all deliberate speed,” due to coronavirus infections within facilities. The judge have the federal government a deadline of July 17 to comply. She later extended the deadline to July 27 after a motion from the Trump administration. 

The administration sought another extension, which Gee denied Saturday.

“There will be no family separation without parental consent, regardless of whether a know-your-rights protocol exists or not,” Gee wrote in her order. 

In her June ruling Gee, an Obama appointee, cited recent outbreaks of the virus at two ICE facilities, saying the centers “are ‘on fire’ and there is no more time for half measures.” 

NBC News reported this week that despite the fact that the deadline to release those in ICE custody was days away, the administration has not yet let many migrants go, with 346 children and parents still in custody.

The litigation comes as outbreaks have surged across the country, with California, Texas, Arizona and Florida — all states with ICE detention facilities — becoming hot spots for the disease. 

Tags Department of Homeland Security detention facilities DHS ICE migrants Trump administration

Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.