Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined a multistate coalition of 20 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief





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*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:*
January 29, 2026




*Media Contact:*
Danny Wimmer <[email protected]>






AG Nessel Joins Multistate Amicus Brief Opposing the Trump Administration’s Attempt to Prolong the Immigration Detention of Children

*LANSING* — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined a multistate coalition of 20 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief (PDF) [ [link removed] ] opposing the Trump Administration’s efforts to terminate the "Flores" Settlement Agreement, which has been in place since 1997. The "Flores "Settlement Agreement provides crucial protections against the inappropriate detention of children and ensures the children in immigration custody are held in facilities licensed in and subject to oversight by the states in which they reside. In May 2025, the Trump Administration moved to terminate the "Flores" Settlement Agreement with the goal of expanding family detention and increasing the duration of child detention. In a brief filed yesterday, Attorney General Nessel and the coalition urge the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to block the Trump Administration’s latest attempt to end the "Flores" Settlement Agreement and to prevent the Administration from keeping children in prolonged and unnecessary detention.

“It is simply unconscionable to lock children in immigration detention centers and deprive them of the most basic things they need, like healthcare, education, sanitary needs, and the care they deserve,” said Attorney General Nessel. “Forcing kids to remain in prolonged detention while stripping away longstanding protections only inflicts lasting harm and ignores the law and our responsibility to treat kids with human decency. I am proud to stand with my colleagues in support of children’s well-being.”

For almost 30 years, the "Flores "Settlement Agreement has ensured the safety and well-being of children in immigration custody through the enforcement of state child welfare laws. The agreement requires that children be held in state-licensed facilities under oversight, released without unnecessary delay to parents, guardians, or licensed programs, and placed in the least restrictive setting appropriate to their age and needs. It also sets standards for education, recreation, and overall care, establishes conditions of confinement, and provides monitoring to protect children while in custody. Maintaining this arrangement for immigrant youth is crucial to ensure that states can protect the rights and well-being of all children in their care, regardless of immigration status.

In 2019, Attorney General Nessel sued when the first Trump Administration [ [link removed] ] attempted to terminate the "Flores" Settlement Agreement and remove critical protections for detained immigration children. Attorney General Nessel and other states also supported challenges to these actions, and a U.S. District Court halted almost all of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s regulations and declined to terminate the "Flores "Settlement Agreement. Over time, some claims were resolved, and in 2024, the Biden Administration adopted new rules that restored and strengthened protections for unaccompanied children. Upon re-entering office, the Trump Administration once again tried to completely terminate the "Flores "Settlement Agreement and revert to the 2019 Department of Homeland Security rule. After this action was rejected by a district court, the federal government appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit.

In the brief, Attorney General Nessel and the coalition argue that the Trump Administration’s attempt to terminate the "Flores "Settlement Agreement interferes with states’ traditional and sovereign role to help ensure the health, safety, and welfare of children by undermining state licensing requirements for facilities where children are held. The termination would result in the vast expansion of family detention centers, which are not state licensed facilities and have historically caused increased trauma in children, and prolong the time children spend in immigration detention, causing significant long-term harm to their physical, mental, and emotional health, disrupting their development and educational needs and increasing burdens to the states that provide services to support them.

In filing the amicus brief, Attorney General Nessel joins the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.

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