Biden administration sued over substandard conditions at emergency sites for migrant teens

Lawyers representing children in U.S. immigration custody asked a federal court on Monday to order the release of migrant teenagers from two emergency housing sites in Texas where minors have reported mental distress, substandard conditions, prolonged stays and inadequate services.

In their lawsuit before the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, the attorneys accused the Biden administration of violating the 1997 Flores Settlement Agreement and its rules regarding the treatment of migrant children, which the federal government is legally obliged to follow. At the center of the 31-page complaint are two makeshift housing facilities for unaccompanied migrant children that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) established this spring at the Fort Bliss U.S. Army base and a camp for oil workers in Pecos, a remote town in west Texas.