Flores v. Meese Stipulated Settlement Agreement

Filed in March 1988, this action presented a class-wide challenge to (a) the Immigration and Naturalization Service’s policy to condition juveniles’ release on bond on their parents’ or legal guardians’ surrendering to INS agents for interrogation and possible deportation; (b) the procedures employed by the INS in imposing a condition on juveniles’ bond that they be released only to parents or legal guardians; and (c) the conditions maintained by the INS in facilities where it incarcerated juveniles.

The settlement allows for the INS to develop service regulations to ensure that detained youth are treated with respect and that they can be released to an adult relative or other adult under certain conditions or a program, not just ot parent or legal guardian.