KQED quotes Professor Cooper about rules for detaining migrant children

An independent monitor appointed to investigate whether detained migrant children are being treated humanely needs to be able to assess the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s actions, Professor Holly Cooper told KQED.

The Trump administration has asked federal Judge Dolly Gee to exempt ORR - the main authority overseeing the detention of migrant children - from the purview of the independent monitor Gee appointed, Andrea Sheridan Ordin. But ORR should be monitored, Cooper told KQED.

“We do have evidence already that there are consistent, pervasive violations, and we are very concerned,” Cooper said.

The Trump administration also reportedly is considering asking Gee to allow parents and children to be detained together indefinitely, if the parents assent. Cooper told KQED that she worries this would lead to parents being coerced into agreeing.

“The government has a history of saying, ‘sign here,’ without giving people meaningful opportunity to understand their rights,” Cooper said.

Under the Flores settlement - the 1997 federal decree that established standards for underage migrants - children can be detained for a maximum of 20 days.

Professor Holly S. Cooper ’98, co-director of the Immigration Law Clinic, has extensive litigation experience defending the rights of immigrants and is a nationally recognized expert on immigration detention issues and on the immigration consequences of criminal convictions.