Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief opposing the Trump Administration’s efforts to end the Flores Settlement Agreement, which has governed protections for children in immigration detention since 1997. The agreement requires that children be held in state-licensed facilities under oversight and released without unnecessary delay to parents, guardians, or licensed programs.
The Trump Administration moved in May 2025 to terminate the Flores Settlement Agreement with the aim of expanding family detention and increasing the length of time children can be detained. In response, Nessel and her colleagues have urged the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to block this attempt.
“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.”
The Flores Settlement Agreement sets standards for education, recreation, care conditions, and monitoring for children in custody. It also ensures that states maintain oversight through their child welfare laws regardless of a child’s immigration status.
Attorney General Nessel previously sued when the Trump Administration first attempted to end these protections in 2019. A U.S. District Court halted most Department of Homeland Security regulations seeking termination at that time. In 2024, new rules under the Biden Administration restored protections for unaccompanied minors. The renewed effort by the Trump Administration was again rejected by a district court before being appealed.
Nessel and other attorneys general argue that ending the Flores Settlement Agreement would undermine state licensing requirements for facilities holding children and expand non-state-licensed family detention centers—settings linked to increased trauma among children. They contend that longer detentions would cause significant long-term harm to children’s health and development while increasing burdens on states providing support services.
Attorney General Nessel joined attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington D.C., Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington State.
The Michigan Department of Attorney General serves as Michigan’s chief legal office with statewide authority to protect residents, including vulnerable populations such as immigrant children. The office provides public service initiatives addressing community needs such as crime victim support and combating human trafficking according to its official website. Dana Nessel is Michigan’s 54th attorney general as noted on its official site.
