HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge has extended the deadline for the release of migrant children from detention, as advocates for detained families feared the government would create what they called a new form of family separation.
U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles on Thursday granted a request for a 10-day extension to release children held in family detention centers longer than 20 days.
In her ruling last month setting the Friday deadline, Gee said the family detention centers "are 'on fire' and there is no more time for half measures."
According to NBC News, Gee stated back in June that COVID-19 had made detention centers unsafe.
Gee's recent ruling did not extend to parents detained with their children, the Associated Press reported.