June 30, 2019 "Information Clearing House" -  The US government’s treatment of immigrant children not only shocks the conscience, it is also in chronic, blatant violation of US law. The US government’s deliberate, unlawful cruelty to its child hostages was vividly illustrated by government attorney Sarah Fabian, a self-described mother, as she tried to explain to the disbelieving three judges of the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals how the US government could say it held children in “safe and sanitary” conditions as required by law. Fabian’s stunning performance went viral, showing her defending conditions in which the government deprives its child-prisoners of soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, or beds. A federal district court had already ruled that these conditions were not “safe and sanitary.” Fabian’s coldly deceptive responses to the judges’ incredulous questions is a stunning illustration of an attorney zealously representing her client, the US, with little regard for truth, humanity, decency, fundamental honesty, or the plain language of the governing law. Given the manifest bad faith of the US government in immigration matters over decades, one wonders: at what point does “just following orders” become a form of co-conspiracy in violating human rights?

The governing law for this case is the 1997 Flores Settlement of a 1985 class action lawsuit against the US for its treatment of immigrant minors held in detention. Subsequent Congressional action has codified parts of the settlement, but Congress has done nothing to disturb the settlement, as courts have previously ruled. The settlement itself is 28 pages long (including 14 pages of exhibits). It sets out nationwide policy that covers “the detention, release, and treatment” of all immigrant minors detained by US immigration authorities. The intent of the settlement is to assure that US immigration authorities treat, “and shall continue to treat, all minors in its custody with dignity, respect and special concern for their particular vulnerability as minors.” This is the current law of the land and will remain the law of the land until Congress enacts any change that is signed by the president.