John,

After four long years of litigation, we have good news.
 
A judge approved a settlement agreement in our Garcia Ramirez lawsuit. This lawsuit challenged ICE’s illegal practice of detaining unaccompanied children who turned 18 and “aged out” of the government’s custody and care. 

On their 18th birthday, ICE would arrest and transport them to detention centers and jails. Thanks to our lawsuit, which was litigated with Kirkland & Ellis and the National Immigrant Justice Center, ICE had to issue new directives on where to send unaccompanied children and re-train its agents. Since then, ICE has released nearly all unaccompanied children on their 18th birthday.

And now, with the settlement agreement in place, ICE has agreed to drop its appeal of our lawsuit. This makes the court order on ICE’s policies and practices final. 

But we won’t stop there. As a part of the Court’s order, we will receive monthly data and information about this class of teenagers for several more years, until September 2026, which will allow us to ensure that the government continues to follow the law.

Years-long litigation like this is not possible without your support. 

Please consider making a gift today to support legal action and ensure that no child is unlawfully detained by ICE.

Thank you for your continued support,

Kate Melloy Goettel
Legal Director of Litigation

         

ImmigrationCouncil.org  | unsubscribe
1331 G St. NW Suite 200. Washington, D.C., xxxxxx